Across the Universes
by call-of-the-mind
Summary: In a world that seems filled with hate Arrosa is struggling to cope. When her world turns upside down and starts literally tearing at the seams she doesn't know what to do or who to turn to. Set at the end of Empire of Storms/ Tower of Dawn and includes Dark-Hunter/Chronicles of Nick characters. I am trying to make the ultimate multi-fandom crossover, adding fandoms as I go.
1. Story Explanation

So this is the ultimate fandom crossover. So far I have plans to incorporate Dark-Hunter Series, Chronicles of Nick series, Harry Potter, ACOTAR, THrone of Glass series, Kate Daniels Series and many others. If you have any opinions on series you want to see visit the poll on my profile :)

Synopsis:

Arrosa's life is tearing at the seams. When worlds start to collide she needs to decide whether she's ready to fulfil her true potential. Will she be able to save the world? Will she be able to look past the trauma of her past and find love again?

Read on for more.


	2. Prologue

I never dreamed that the world would end. I never really thought that a world could begin and end at the same time, either. So many people, being joined together, to help each other in every time of tragedy and loss. Hundreds of worlds colliding, ending and beginning an age at the same time.

And so begins the age of Power.

Who am I, you ask? I have many names. But it doesn't really matter anymore who I am. Everyone remembers me differently, because of what I've done. To some I am a hero. To others I am the greatest threat they have ever known.

In reality, all I ever was and am is a person who wishes to help.

Too bad that even in this universe where every story comes to life, my wishes still don't come true.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

I walked up the stairs, past the hundreds of faded red seats in the auditorium until I reached one of the highest rows. In a room that could fit over three hundred people I still felt the need to hide at the top. No matter how old you get the professors still felt the need to call on you when you didn't know the answer and goodness knows i never really knew what was going on in my classes.

My friends all sat down next to me, and I was thankful they were in this class with me. I wouldn't survive Molecular Evolution without them. We all pulled out our laptops and opened up various Facebook pages and the powerpoint we knew that we weren't going to be copying many notes on.

Our professor wandered into the class looking more lost than we were, which was hilarious given that we were already seven weeks into the term. "Where did we end off last week?"

I looked at my two friends, Josie and Jack, sitting to my right. "If he doesn't know he definitely can't expect us to know."

"We went over the JC69 equation." Jack said, rolling his almond shaped eyes at me. "Do you ever pay attention?"

"Clearly not, Jack." I sniped back and tried to ignore his condescending stare. He was the only reason I was getting through this class, and kept sending us notes but it was hard to convince him to be less patronizing in the morning.

"It's ok, Arro." Josie laughed. "I don't really pay attention either.

I snorted at her and Jack looked at both of us. "Well if you and Arrosa want to fuck around that's fine but I would like to get an A in this class so shut up so I can hear him speak."

I rolled my eyes at him and shared a look with Josie which sent us both into coughing fits to hide the laughter. "Jack if you call me Arrosa again I'll be forced to call you by your vietnamese name and we both know how much you love that."

He narrowed his eyes at me but didn't reply, instead choosing to ignore me and listen to the lecture. I chose to instead focus on the doors that sat halfway down the lecture hall on either side of the classroom. Given that it was a 7-10pm lecture, I was going to be stuck here for much longer but I was already fantasizing about going home.

The doors burst open and at first I was laughing. Somebody up above had answered my prayers. But then guns started going off and blood sprayed as bullets hit their target. I opened my mouth in horror, the lecture forgotten. We had to get out of here. We ducked behind the seats in front of us and I tried to think of what to do. I didn't really know what to do to be honest. My heart was pounding and I could feel tears running down my cheeks, and streams of them were running down the cheeks of my friends as well.

The bullet spray lifted to where we were sitting and Josie screamed as bullets hit Jack. My hand flew to my mouth and I jumped back from him even as the horror of what was happening hit me. I felt nauseous. My friends. Not my freacking friends. I scrambled to the edge of the row even as Josie screamed at me to come back. My whole body was shaking and the tears were still running but I felt absurdly numb.

There were still so many people alive. I could help them. I didn't even stop to think about how hilariously stupid I was being when I stood up and screamed, "Stop!"

The shooting stopped and the ten men that had entered were now all staring directly at me. Crap. Well it was too late to turn back now.

"Please stop," My voice shook and I took a deep breath to steady it, clenching my fists to keep myself strong. "We're just trying to get through this hell and find a job."

"You idiots are the reason we're in this mess in the first place." One of them spat.

I couldn't figure out what a room full of young adults could have possibly done to these men but I nodded. "Milennials are the true scourge of the earth. But does that really mean we deserve to die?"

One of the five blonde ones snarled and a darker haired man lifted their gun and pointed it directly at me. "Why don't you shut up already." The blonde men looked strange, with teeth that from this distance seemed almost fake, they were just a little too long.

"No!" One of the darker haired men exclaimed. THis one had desperate eyes, eyes that wanted death. "I want this one. You can finish the rest but I want her."

The blonde ones grinned and the hall exploded into chaos again and when I looked I realized that the blonde ones were biting people. Why the hell would anyone bite another person? The desperate eyed man approached me and grinned a smile that made me want to run. He pointed his gun straight at me and nudged me down to the front, where there was a podium that held a computer that was now sprayed with blood. So much blood. I slid my eyes down and saw my prof staring unseeing at the sky, his face a shade too pale for any living person.

I swallowed my scream and looked at the man and saw only pain in his eyes. He pushed me against the podium and strapped me to it so that I couldn't move, could barely even breathe. I was forced to face the chaos that was going on in the room and was so focused on it that I wasn't prepared for the slice of pain down my back when he cut me. I cried out and tried to turn but I was strapped too tightly.

Hours later, when the room was silent but for my cries of pain and the cries of delight from my torturers I searched the bodies piled in front of me. They had gathered all the dead and brought them to the front, as some sick sort of mind game. But I didn't see Josie's or Jack's faces and for that I was grateful. They must have managed to escape.

Days passed - or maybe it was weeks. Time felt different in here, with no windows to the outside world, no way to see the sun.

I silently thanked God that they had left my clothes on. Physical torture was one thing but that... that would really rip my soul apart.

The phone in the room rang and all the heads turned. The one that I had decided was the leader - one of those horrifyingly blonde men that had been biting all my classmates - shook his head. "Leave it. They have nothing we want."

The ringing stopped and started again. And then stopped once more when nobody answered it. I heard doors opening in the distance and breathed a sigh of relief. They would kill me before the police could reach me, but at least I wouldn't have to endure this any longer.

A sharp crack to my head made my vision blurry and my thoughts jumbled. I hadn't eaten in so long, and they barely gave me any water. The room spun and I watched as the blonde men scattered faster than any human had any right to move.

The cops came in and shots rang out, then they were at me. I watched as the woman's mouth was moving in front of me and could hear her words like some sort of mumbling in the background of everything but I couldn't hear what she was saying. I felt the bonds around my sides loosen and sank to the ground, unable to support my own weight. Everything was so fuzzy.

I was lifted onto a stretcher and nodded as the paramedics spoke to me, without hearing their words. What lovely people, I thought absently. So very...

x.x.x.x.x.

I woke in a hospital bed, screaming and thrashing. I relaxed and fell back into the darkness just after.

I don't know how long it was until I finally was able to be conscious without freaking out, but the looks the doctors gave me when I woke calm were not reassuring. I had restraints around my wrists and my ankles and could barely move. I looked at them and croaked out, "Please don't leave me like this."

Her face softened and she looked at the nurse standing next to her. "Take off the restraints. I don't think she needs them anymore."

He complied quickly and then left, leaving me with her. Our sessions were long and tedious. Hours and hours of long talks about how messed up I was and how I needed to face what had happened before I could heal. Heal shmeal. I just wanted to go home.

I learned quickly how to say what she wanted to hear. How to tailor each session to make it seem that I was only making a little progress even when I knew that there was nothing to be done for me. How do you heal from something like that?

Josie and Jack came to visit me once. They brought me flowers and we all sat and smiled awkwardly at each other for an hour before they made a lame excuse to leave. They didn't want to be reminded of what had happened just as much as I didn't.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Being released from the hospital wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be. Instead, my roommate coddled me and my family kept trying to convince me to move back in with them as if I would feel any better being coddled by them. I sat on my bed, the purple covers seeming overly childish and bright. I needed to buy myself a new set. My suitcase sat at my feet, filled with the few things I had used during the four weeks I had spent in hospital.

The doctor had agreed that it was time for me to go. I would still see her once a week, but I needed to be able to return to normal, to heal.

I wondered what everyone at work would think. That poor girl. Can she even lead anymore?

I didn't want anyone's pity. I was wallowing in enough self pity as it was.

"Arro, do you want some ice cream?" Lanna said softly from the other side of my bedroom door.

"No, Lan. Thanks." I said a little too harshly, and tried to make it sound kinder with the thank-you.

"Okay, well... let me know if you need anything. I'm always here." she said. I heard her move away and waited for her door to shut before going into the bathroom and turning on the shower. I didn't look in the mirror. I hadn't since everything had happened and I wasn't ready to start now. The scars on my arms and legs were bad enough.

I stepped into the shower that was scalding hot and let the warmth envelope me. It would take hundreds more showers like these before I ever really felt clean and whole again.

 **Thank you so much for reading :))) I would LOVE it if you would take the time to review, and check out my profile for a poll about which fandoms to include. As of right now I only really have four planned (ACOTAR, TOG, Dark-Hunter/ Chronicles of Nick and Kate Daniels Series) but I would love to add more, and will focus on the ones that have the most interest with them. I know this chapter was a little depressing but it was necessary to set up the main character as the heroine. She is the only OC in the story.**


	3. Chapter 1

Four months had passed since the attack on my school. I had decided to take the rest of the year off from school - I didn't really need to be stressed about midterms and still trying to keep myself together. Besides, who didn't just want to work and make money without the added stress of schoolwork?

It was time for me to head to work at the gym. I taught yoga classes, although for the most part I tended to manage the gym and its workers rather than teach the actual classes. They didn't want to 'push me too hard' until I was healed.

I left my apartment and walked through the suburbs to get to work. The gym was nestled among hundreds of quaint houses, separated only by small lawns and flowerbeds that the suburban moms had groomed to perfection. Children were playing with chalk on their driveways and I absently hoped their mothers had ensured that they were wearing sunscreen. The midday sun would burn them if they hadn't.

The facility was large, made mostly from windows and I could see my friends in the gym with their teal dry-fit shirts that looked a little too old and too dirty to really be a uniform. I walked into the facility and tapped my pass at the door near the front desk to get into the staff office.

"Arro!" Madison, one of the other supervisors grinned at me. I could never tell if he was happy to see me or if he was just happy that his shift was over. He was tall, with brown hair done in an early Justin Beiber style look that made him look immature and a little feminine. His teeth were a little too big for his face and reminded me a little of a groundhog.

"Hey, Mads." I smiled and got myself set up at the second computer that sat at the left of the long desk. He was sitting at the other end.

The day continued as it usually did. I audited one of the yoga classes which was fine, as usual. I checked the facilities to make sure everything was clean and at the end of the night, around 9 I locked up, ensuring that everything was as it should be.

"Do you want a ride, Arro?" Embrie asked. She was small, even for a girl. Barely one hundred pounds and struggling through grade eleven her curly hair never really stayed put. She was four years younger than me and yet she managed to intimidate every annoying patron we had.

"I would love one." I smiled.

Embrie's boyfriend, Ashton was also with us, finishing up his shift. He was tall and a little awkward but in a way that many women would find endearing. He was three years older than Embrie but that didn't stop them from being a little bit weirdly perfect for each other.

We didn't really talk on the five minute drive to my house. After spending eight hours together talking there really wasn't much more to say. I thanked Embrie for driving me home and hurried up the walk to my front door, and up the stairs that were right after the door.

Lanna didn't seem to be home, thankfully. I really didn't need to be pestered any more and after the crazy patrons I had to deal with today, I really just wanted to be alone.

My phone started to buzz and I groaned. Of course being alone was too much to ask. I checked the caller ID - it was my friend Gwen. I sighed and mentally prepared myself to answer, clicking the green button.

"Hello?"

"Arro? I need you to come out with me tonight."

"Come out where?" I asked, even though I knew that she was likely asking me to go downtown with her.

"To the club. I _need_ this, Ro. Please." Her voice sounded desperate and I wondered if her boyfriend had broken up with her again. He was constantly going back and forth and dragging her there with him. He never seemed to know whether he wanted her or whether he wanted freedom but still wanted her to stay faithful even when they weren't truly together. I could never understand why she stayed with him, but she did.

There was no part of me that wanted to go out tonight. I didn't feel ready to accept normalcy again. I looked down at my arms. On each arm there were pink scars, smaller now but still visible. They seemed random, four on one arm about five inches long and three on the other five or six inches long. I touched their ridges and wondered what people at the club would think when they saw them. I wore long sleeves and jeans even when it was disgustingly hot outside just to hide them. I only had a few on my back, but the man had written words with them. Ugly, weak. The words were the length of my pinky finger, not large and yet every time I saw them in the mirror I felt a part of myself break a little.

I clenched my hand that wasn't holding my phone to keep it from shaking and thought of all the kind things Gwen had done for me in the last few months. Girls nights with pizza and wine. Nights were she just sat beside me and let me cry. I wasn't ready but... she needed this.

"Okay," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "But I want you to bring me some tequila."

"Done." she said and I heard her girly squeal on the other end. "I'm so excited! We haven't been out in so long."

"I'll see you in an hour." I replied and hung up, sighing heavily. I went to my desk and sat in front of a makeup mirror I hadn't used in months. Maybe even if my body wouldn't look great my face could. I applied a light layer of foundation, contoured and highlighted. I decided to go all out with the eyeshadow and do it in gold, darkening the crease and the edge. The colour made my bicoloured eyes stand out a little more. Usually, people thought I had brown eyes. I actually had eyes with a gold center and a green/blue outer ring, but the colours were all so dark it was hard to tell without shining a light at my eyes.

My eyes were one of the few things I still liked about myself.

I decided to wear a partially see-through black top. It was dark enough to cover the scars but still at least pretend to be sexy. There were flowers large enough to cover most of my breasts, but the rest was just a see-through mesh. I put black jeans on and called it a night.

Gwen arrived at ten and handed me a bottle of tequila and a bag of limes. Her brown hair stopped at her shoulder and was curled as per usual. Her blue eyes were surrounded by silvery eyeshadow sparingly applied and she was wearing a teal bodysuit that was high in the front and low in the back. While she didn't have much in the way of curves on the top she had a butt most women would kill for.

"I didn't need eight limes," I laughed and we started chopping the limes into pieces small enough to suck on after each shot.

"Can I curl your hair?" she asked, playing with the end.

I looked at the brown mess and shrugged. It was naturally straight, with barely even a wave in it on most days. "If you want to. But I need to be able to drink while you're doing it."

She snorted and went up to my room to grab my curler. Our friend Layla opened my front door and ran up our stairs but I wasn't overly shocked. The three of us never really went out without the others. She was tall for a girl and her body was built wider than most, but she was still stunning. She was Chinese by birth but had immigrated to Canada before she was old enough to speak.

Gwen ran down and dropped the curler to give Layla a giant hug then plopped herself down behind me.

"Pass me the lime wedges and the salt Lay?" she obliged and I twisted the top off the tequila. I poured the salt on my hand and licked it, then took a large swig and sucked on the lime. I hissed air out of my mouth and got ready for the next shot. Tequila went down more smoothly than most liquor but it still burned as it went.

"We'll leave once I'm done Ro's hair." Gwen said and took a swig of her Black fly - a cooler that came straight from satan to trick you into thinking you could have more when you really shouldn't have had that third one.

She finished quickly and we ordered our Uber, driving nearly thirty minutes to get downtown to the clubs. We decided to go to Elgin Street, an area with clubs that were more for people in their early to late twenties instead of clubs that sixteen year olds got into with their fake IDs. The one we picked was Club Entity, a place that we knew the bouncers so we could get in free. At twenty one I had already wasted enough money going to clubs and I refused to pay for entry or drinks anymore.

We got our stamps and entered and I already was ready to go home. My body was fuzzy and felt pleasant and yet my mind didn't want this.

I scanned the place - the square bar right at the front of the club in the center of the room. The booths on either side and the dance floor at the back. It was full tonight, for which I was not overly pleased. At least if it was empty I wouldn't need to worry about being touched or having to turn down men who inevitably danced with you.

We walked to the dance floor and I closed my eyes, letting the music take me. I had to admit, I had missed this part. The part where the music was so loud that you could feel it rumble in your chest. Where you could just close your eyes and be free, move. I could feel myself exhale and some of the tension roll off me. Maybe this wasn't as bad an idea as I had thought.

I felt a hand grab mine gently and opened my eyes to see one of the most beautiful men I've ever seen. He was tall, extremely tall for a man - well over six feet. His long, dark hair was pulled back from a bronze face with brown eyes so dark they seemed like they would lead me to his very soul if I looked into them long enough. His body was corded with thick muscle, his shirt just tight enough to show exactly how much muscle he really had and for the first time in months I felt truly attracted.

Butterflies appeared in my stomach and I smiled up at him, letting him pull me close, swaying my hips in time to the music. I threw my head back and let him spin me, whirling and then I stumbled. Because the back, in one of the booths to the side of the dance floor were the six blonde men who had killed all my classmates. The ones who had sucked the blood of my friends.

I took a step back and stumbled again, eyes wide. I was shaking my head and I could hear myself saying it - "No. No. No. No." Over and Over.

"What's wrong?" The man said, his voice a low rumble that barely made it over the music to my ears.

"I have to go." I said and pushed past him, through the crowd to the front door. I couldn't see my friends anywhere. They must have gone to the bathroom, gone somewhere. I would find them later. I just had to get out.

I popped out of the building into the alley beside it and gasped in air, trying to stop the hyperventillating. I paced back and forth, clenching and unclenching my fists. In through the nose, out through the mouth. I was wrong. It wasn't them. I must have seen it wrong.

I looked up and starting heading back for the club when they popped out the same door I was trying to enter. I stepped back and kept walking. It was them.

"What do you want?" I gasped out even as my legs tried to buckle.

"You escaped us last time," the one I recognized as their leader said. He was slightly shorter than the others yet his power was unmistakable.

"And I hope to do so again." I tried to make my voice seem strong, but all I could manage was a sad croak.

He snarled and they charged me. I got in a few good hits before they had me restrained between them. The leader walked over and narrowed his eyes at me. "I'm going to enjoy this."

The panic started to set in and I squirmed and writhed in their arms, desperately trying to break the vicelike grip these five men had on me. He bit into my neck, sucking blood out faster than I thought it was possible to lose it. I could feel myself getting tired, ready to pass out. I wasn't ready to die. I screamed, "NO!"

I felt something in my burst open and then shut almost as fast as it did but their grip on me loosened. I took advantage of it and thrashed until they let go, scrambling away from them. I got hit from behind, the breath coming out of me in a whoosh as we hit the ground and I felt teeth sink into my shoulder and then the pressure on my body was gone.

I rolled myself over and watched as the man from the bar shoved a knife into the last man's chest and he disintegrated into nothing but dust. I looked at the man and tried my hardest to scramble backwards but I barely had enough energy to push myself up. Those crazy men took too much blood.

"Are you alright?" he asked. His voice was so deep. I had never heard anything so deeply masculine before. I cocked my head to the side and looked at him, not realizing that he was waiting for my response. "Your eyes," he reached up and brushed a hand across my cheek.

"What's... wrong with my eyes?" I pushed the words out. I was so tired. So very tired.

"They're burning with the light of the gods." he said in wonder.

I felt myself fading and distantly felt my head fall back and hit his shoulder as my body gave out. I absently noticed a tattoo on his collarbone, poking up at the top of his shirt, in the shape of a bow an arrow. He lifted me against him and carried me off into the night.

 **And there's chapter 2! Please REVIEW. Even just a sentence or any constructive criticism, anything would be really appreciated :)**


	4. Chapter 2

I woke on a bed with way too many pillows. It was a dark crimson colour, the colour of dried blood. I wonder if that was supposed to be some sort of irony given what this man seemed to do for a living. I scanned the room without moving. I didn't want to alert him that I was awake - he may have saved me, but I wasn't totally sure that he wasn't an enemy.

When I was sure there was nobody in here with me I slowly got out of the bed and looked around the room. A small gold-beige chair under the window beside a dark wooden table. A large golden framed mirror sat above a wooden dresser that matched the table under the window. The window was strange. It was blacked out, so not even a trace of sunlight could penetrate. WHy anyone would want to be stuck in a dark room like this, I didn't know. I was walking past the mirror to the door and stopped. My eyes.

He had mentioned them yesterday but I now knew what he meant. They shone with the light of the gods. The gold that was once a dull dark colour in the centre shone as if it were made of liquid metal. The dark outside that had been a mix of forest green and navy blue was now a bright emerald colour. They were mesmerizing.

I shook myself out of it, and noticed that there were bandages on my shoulder and my neck but my clothes had been left on. I walked toward the door that I assumed led out of the room. I turned the knob slowly, trying my best not to make any noise. I exited to find the man sitting at a table down the hall. He looked up and smiled at me. So much for stealth. I fought the urge to run back into the room and escape through the window.

"Are you hungry?" he asked and my stomach rumbled.

"Who are you?" I asked even as I knew. I had seen the tattoo before - except on a book cover. I hadn't recognized it last night but now I knew. He was a Dark-Hunter. Except that those aren't real. He looked just as gorgeous to me sober as he had last night and I really understood why Artemis only picked beautiful people. Who else would she want to look at for eternity?

"Akecheta," he responded. "Why don't I make you something to eat and we can talk about it?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I thought Squires would usually handle that sort of thing."

"Squires?" He asked and seemed almost panicked that I knew. Not that this man could ever seem panicked. He barely twitched.

"Ya the people they assign to look after you guys." I said and waited for him to kill me. Or maybe call the Squires and have me arrested or something else equally scary.

"Us guys?" he looked into his fridge presumably so that he could hide his face from me.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Would you stop already. I know about the Dark Hunters and all that stuff." I was pretty much lying through my teeth right now. I wanted him to tell me that I was crazy, that it was just a book series. If Dark-Hunters were real those crazy blood sucking blondes were daimons and I wasn't really ready for that realization.

He turned and leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms and making the muscle in them much more visible. "How did you find out about us?"

I debated lying, but I knew that if I did he would probably call me out on it. I was a shitty liar anyways. "There are books written about all of you. I assumed they were fiction until I saw you this morning and realized who you were."

"I need to tell the Squires about you, and they'll decide what to do from there." he sighed and starting walking over to his phone that was sitting across the table from me.

My eyes widened and I stood. "No!" I took a steadying breath and sat back down when he gave me a condescending look. "Obviously I'm more than meets the eye as well," I pointed at my eyes and tried not to laugh at how ironic that sentence was. "I'm not going to tell anyone - who would believe me anyways."

A man with auburn hair and a bad attitude written all over his face walked in. He looked at me and then back at Akecheta. "I won't tell if you don't."

Akecheta raised his eyebrows, "You hate other people."

"Hell is other people," He shrugged. "But she's clearly been through a lot and I think she needs our help." He looked at my shoulder and my neck, where the bandages sat and shook his head at Akecheta. "And you didn't even dress the wounds properly." He came over and pulled a chair beside me.

"I thought she would prefer if I left her clothes on her while she was unconscious." Akecheta said defensively.

"You thought right." I smiled and then frowned at the squire as he pulled at my neck bandage. "Would you stop it." I smacked his hand. "I can dress these myself if you would just grab me some bandages."

He raised his eyebrows but got up to grab them, returning with a roll of gauze, medical tape and some pads. "If you want to get to those properly you're going to have to remove your shirt."

I looked between him and Akecheta. "You both just want me with my shirt off." I grabbed the material and walked back toward the room I was in. "Where is the bathroom?" I asked without turning around.

"To the left," they both replied at the same time.

I entered and quickly placed gauze on my neck and my shoulder. The cuts weren't horrible but I didn't want them to get infected. They were odd places to put bandages on, and it took a few times to get the tape right. My shirt was lying on the floor and it was only then that I realized that not only did I not have another shirt, but I also didn't have a bra. That's what I get for going braless I guess.

I poked my head out of the bathroom and saw the two men sitting at the table looking extremely confused. "Do either of you have a shirt I could borrow?"

They both shot to their feet and then the squire sat back down, letting my saviour grab a new shirt for me. I closed the door again and waited until he came. THere was a knock at the door and I opened it, using the door to shield my naked chest. I looked at the shirt - short sleeved, cotton. I didn't know how I was supposed to hide my scars now but that really wasn't the most important thing right now.

"Do you eat ham?" the squire asked. I really needed to learn his name.

I shook my head. "I'm a vegetarian."

Both the squire and Akecheta gave me looks of horror. "What do you eat?"

"Literally everything else?" I replied.

I took a seat at the table and folded my arms around my waist, trying my best to have them focus on my face. Now that I had time to look, the kitchen table was made of the same dark wood that was in my room. The cabinets matched. From where I was sitting I could see the forest green couches and the night sky outside. I must have been unconscious for a full day. People were going to panic.

"What's your name?" I asked the squire.

"Seamus," he replied and handed me a plate with hashbrowns and two eggs. "You do eat eggs, don't you?"

"Yes I do, vegans don't." I rolled my eyes at him and popped the hashbrowns in my mouth. "Damn, Kech, these are some tasty homefries."

Akecheta gave me an embarrassed smile and handed Seamus another plate and took one for himself.

"So what now?" I asked after taking a few bites.

"You keep our secret." Akecheta replied. I still couldn't get over how gorgeous he was. Perfect jawline, full lashes, hair that was probably softer than mine.

Seamus wasn't bad himself. His nose was a little crooked but that didn't detract from his looks.

"Could you teach me how to fight?" I blurted then instantly regretted asking. The man had already saved my life once. He shouldn't have to do it twice.

Seamus stood up and placed his plate and utensils in the dishwasher. "Well, it's past my bedtime. See you... later." he said, before ambling off down the numerous halls this place seemed to have.

"You're not afraid of me?" Akecheta asked. I looked him up and down. Sure, if I sat here long enough and he continued to stare at me like he was right now, I would probably get uncomfortable. It was as if he was looking straight into my soul.

"You saved my life. If you wanted me dead I would be."

A look crossed his face, there and gone in a second. I wondered if he was surprised that I would trust him, or if it had just been so long since another person had asked to spend time with him. I wondered which First Nations people were his own. Where he came from. His story. I knew that he would not take kindly for me asking - every Dark Hunter was there because of a hideous betrayal that had made their soul cry out for vengeance. When Artemis heard that cry she offered them vengeance for their soul and a lifetime of servitude to her, killing demons. They were compensated greatly for it as well.

"Okay. I'll teach you. Twice a week, here." he said. "I'll have Seamus pick you up. For now, would you like a ride home?"

Home. I had totally forgotten about it. And my friends. They were probably worried sick about me. "I would love one."

He led me out to the garage where he had an excessive amount of expensive cars lined up. It must have been at least a six door garage from the looks of it. I turned to him and raised my eyebrow.

He shrugged. "I like cars."

I snorted and got in. For an ancient man he really wasn't all that different from the modern ones. He reached to turn on the music and nudged my arm and I jumped just a little. "What happened?" he asked, and I knew he was talking about the scars.

"It's not really important." I said, my voice sounding more defeated than I meant it to. "How old are you?"

He looked at me as we exited his garage and driveway. "It's not really important."

We spent the rest of the drive in silence. He lived near the water, much closer to my apartment than I had thought. It was barely a fifteen minute drive. We were both in rural Ottawa. When we pulled up to my apartment I sat in the car for a little longer than necessary.

"Thanks, Kech. For saving my life." I said and then before I could convince myself against it I leaned over and gave him a quick hug. The shock on his face was palpable and I could see him touch his cheek where my face was only moments before.

"Kech?"

"Ya, it's a nickname. I'm sorry I can stop-"

"No. It's ... nice." he said and smiled at me.

I shut the door and walked quickly up to my front door and closed it behind me. My heart was racing and I couldn't figure out why.

"Where have you been!" Lanna shouted at me, then gave me a tight hug.

I thought quickly for a reply and the fastest thing that came out was, "I went home with a boy and forgot to text you. Sorry."

"And stayed there for an entire day! I was _worried_ about you Arro! Don't you realize that the last time you were missing for that long you had been kidnapped?" She hugged me tighter and then let go.

I sighed and closed my eyes. I had been selfish for not calling her when I woke up. "I'm sorry, Lan. I just got distracted. He's wonderful." I said, and the dreamy way I said it was only partially faked. When I thought about him my stomach started to flutter and my heart raced.

"You really like this guy?" she asked.

"Yeah, I do."


	5. Chapter 3

I spent the next three days constantly thinking about what would happen when Kech and I trained. Would I be a total badass? Would I completely flop? I was building it up so much in my head I knew I was either going to be shocked or disappointed.

When it came time to be picked up I was so full of energy my roommate was ready to cut me in half.

"Would you stop pacing?" she snapped and as she did her face filled with horror when she realized that she had potentially hurt the poor, tortured girl she lived with.

"Stop. You're right. I'm being annoying." I said and sat down. "It's ok to treat me like normal, Lan. I need normal."

She came and hugged me, nodding. "Normal. And you're going to be fine today. Nothing weird is going to happen."

I nodded and heard the buzz of my phone on the counter that signalled Seamus was here. I grabbed it and rushed out the door, carrying a bag with a change of clothes after the work out. I stopped when I saw Kech in the driver's seat. It was dark - the sun had set about twenty minutes ago - but he had said that Seamus was going to pick me up. I hadn't gone through this possibility in my head first. I had no idea what to do. _Get into the car, idiot._ I told myself and hurried to the passenger side.

He grabbed my bags on my lap and tossed them into the back seat. We sat there for a second.

"How are-"

"Good to see-"

We both stopped and smiled awkwardly. I shook myself. I was not an awkward person. He seemed to sort of come back to himself as well because he gave me a devastating grin that must have had women begging to come home with him. As it was it made my stomach flip over.

"You know if you keep wearing stuff like that I'm going to have a hard time focusing on training." his tone was joking, but I could see the heat in his eyes as he said it.

I looked down at my leggings and workout shirt combo. Nothing too special but I knew that part of him was just trying to diffuse the tension. I laughed nervously and we made awkward banter until we arrived at his mansion. It took my breath away even though I'd already seen it. It was basically a castle, with three floors and enough square footage to have separate wings. The outside had ivy growing up the side of the grey stone, with white flowers starting to bloom along it. Near the bottom orange, red and yellow nasturtiums bloomed, adding colour to an otherwise rather dark landscape. That being said, it was nighttime.

We walked up to the house and the door opened, Seamus standing in the entrance.

"I thought I was supposed to get her?" he said gave Kech a look.

I raised my eyebrows. So Kech hadn't even told Seamus he was getting me? I tried not to think about what that meant.

Kech shrugged a little too nonchalantly. "I wasn't doing anything and you weren't home yet."

"I was literally upstairs." Seamus said and then shrugged, leading us into the house. The ceiling went up two floors in an entryway that could rival even the most beautiful and expensive of homes. The stairs went up on either side of the room, curving up the wall to meet in the centre. We went up the right side, and turned right to head into a separate wing - wing! - of the house.

There were tapestries hanging on the walls, depicting battles over so many centuries it made me almost dizzy to think about how old he was. I ran my hand along one, stopping when I realized that it depicted something not violent but beautiful. In the picture there was a child, no older than seven. It was a young boy, kneeling in front of a woman who even in the woven cloth was the most beautiful I had ever seen. She had black hair that seemed to wave around her of its own accord. Her skin was the same bronze colour as Kech's and she had a smile on her face. Her hand reached toward the boy, extending something that was hidden from sight by the boy's body.

"That's you, isn't it?" I asked, still not taking my eyes off the tapestry.

"Yes," Kech said, and gently pulled me away from the tapestry and into a room next to it that was filled with blue mats.

For the next two hours he showed me different basic forms of different defensive techniques, and forced me to repeat them so many times I swear I could feel myself doing them even when we stopped to rest. But I never complained. I knew that this was something he wouldn't do for many people, and I was grateful to be learning. I never wanted to feel helpless again.

"We should probably stop for tonight." Kech said.

My body was literally shaking and I was absolutely drenched from all the activity. I still wanted to continue, wanted to push myself until I couldn't even move a muscle, but I knew he was right. "Alright."

"Do you want to shower?" he asked and then opened and closed his mouth when he realized what that had sounded like. I raised an eyebrow and then laughed as he tried to correct himself.

"I know what you meant," I caught a towel he threw at me and wiped my face on it, marvelling in how soft it was. I wanted to buy some towels like this for my place, but a small part of me knew that they cost more than my rent. "I would love one."

"Down the hall and to the right. I bought some soap and shampoo for you - lavender." he said, looking suddenly very awkward.

"You know what soap I like?" I said, fighting the urge to run screaming. That was a little creepy.

He grimaced and pointed at his nose. "Heightened senses."

"Ah." I nodded and then left the room a little quicker than I needed to. I had no idea why I was being so awkward. I'm twenty years old - almost twenty one. I'm practically an adult - although I still needed to call my mother when I forgot how to wash clothes, and call my father whenever something broke in my house. But that was a normal adult thing to do - use your resources.

To be fair I wasn't Carrie Confidant but I knew how to act normal. I guess part of this whole awkward mess was making me a little twitchy.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

 _Three weeks later..._

"Honestly Kech I don't know why you're arguing when you already know I've won." I lay back on the couch, feet tossed on top of the back. We had just finished another training session and my hair was still wet from my shower. I was tying it off into two braids, my fingers twining the strands around each other as we spoke.

"There is no way that the best series of all time is Harry Potter." he rolled his eyes and I had the distinct urge to slap the stupid right out of him.

Both my eyebrows raised and I held the half-done braid still in my hand. "First of all, J.K. Rowling had arguably created more magical creatures and stories in her series than most authors. Secondly, her series is one of the highest grossing of all time. To top it off it includes _many_ nods to a powerful woman proving that men need women and vice versa to get through problems. It shows little girls that they really can fight off their demons, and they can even save their princes instead of the other way around." I shrugged and then finished the braid. "Harry Potter is basically one of the most richly developed and gender equal worlds there are."

Kech raised his eyebrows but nodded. "You win this round."

Even Seamus seemed impressed.

"Don't give me that look as if you're surprised that I'm intelligent." I scowled and they both laughed.

"We know you're smart. This is just the first time you've ever expressed your opinion so... vigorously." Seamus winked and I rolled my eyes at them.

After two weeks of seeing them pretty much every second day I was getting comfortable. I hadn't even realized I had started to almost yell. But I was just passionate. Not angry. I smiled and looked at both of them. Even though I had barely known these two for a month they already felt like family. And that awkward attraction thing with Kech had thankfully faded to the back of my mind. I still sometimes felt flutters in my stomach if I looked at him too long but the awkward tension had thankfully dissipated.

"Have you found anything new?" I asked Seamus. I asked him every time that I saw him. He had promised that he would research and use the Squire libraries to see if there was anything he could find on why my eyes had started to look like they did. The brightness. We had both thought that maybe it would fade, but it hadn't yet. They still looked like I had liquid gold surrounding my pupil and emerald surrounding that.

Seamus gave me a look that said he wished I would stop asking. "Not since you asked two days ago."

I sighed and then gave him an apologetic grin. "Sorry."

"I should probably head out," Kech said, strapping various weapons to himself and shrugging on a leather jacket that had seemed so much longer before he put it on his body. I forgot sometimes, how truly large he was. He was so kind I never really felt intimidated but right now... I had to fight not to stare. His shirt rode up as he reached up for a sword hanging on the wall and exposed the ridges of his stomach and I felt my face heat up. Thankfully neither of them were looking at me.

"Yeah you probably should go keep us humans alive," Seamus snorted.

Kech chose to ignore him and walked over as if to give me a hug and then seemed to think better of it. He stopped a few feet from me and then just smiled, "Do you want me to drop you off on my way?"

"Nah that's okay, Seamus said I can go through some of the research myself. Also! Before you go, my friends think it's a good idea to have a backyard pool party/ club night thing for my birthday in three weeks. Would you guys be interested in coming?" I sat up and tried not to let how exhausted my muscles were show. My muscles were so sore they were quivering.

They both looked shocked. Seamus was only a few years older than me, and finishing up a masters in Pathology and Experimental Medicine. He was still close to the age of most of my friends that would be there. Kech was immortal so he would pretty much never be a similar age to anyone, but he at least looked similar. Or at least, I thought he did. He looked about twenty-six, but I didn't have the heart to ask him how old he'd been when he died.

"Usually this is the time when you answer." I looked between them and they seemed to realize that they hadn't.

"Yeah, we'll be there," Seamus answered for both of them. Kech just nodded at me with this odd, haunted look on his face and then left. When I was sure he was gone I turned to Seamus.

"Why did he seem so shocked? I mean you were too but..." I couldn't get Kech's face out of my head.

"I don't think that anyone has ever invited him anywhere before." Seamus said and seemed to realize himself how sad that was.

My heart broke for him. This poor man had been through so much. It seemed I wasn't the only one who had things I would much rather forget. I rubbed my arms self consciously and silently prayed that whatever happened that night, we would all have fun.

We deserved it.


	6. Chapter 4

I sat in front of my makeup mirror, brushing gold eyeshadow on my eyelids. It was eight o'clock, and the sun had started setting, the pink and orange so pretty I had to stop and stare.

"You almost ready?" Lanna popped into my room. She had her brown hair straightened and a natural makeup look going tonight, with the exception of the silvery highlight that shone as she moved. She was wearing a black romper, loose at the bottom and tighter at the top and it looked great.

I looked down at myself and smiled sheepishly. "Just let me change." I grabbed sorted through the excessive amount of clothes on my floor and found the dress I wanted to wear. It was tight and navy blue, with small white spots and a square cut at the neck. "Is this too much? I want to look cute tonight but..." I traced the scars lightly. It had been almost five months since everything happened, and the scars were looking less and less pink every day.

"You look amazing," Lanna said and grinned, "Kech will love it."

I opened my mouth to correct her but there was no point. I had screwed myself by using Kech as an excuse that first time I'd been gone and now she just thought we were hooking up when I went over. To be honest I didn't want to ruin that for her. She was so excited for me to move past my commitment issues that I wanted her to have this. Except for the fact that it wouldn't make much sense to Kech at all.

"Ok, I'm going to go and help everyone set up for you. You sure you're good to meet at Embrie's house?" she asked. She was going early because they wanted to have something special ready for me. I wasn't going to complain. Kech and Seamus were picking me up on their way over, as soon as the sun set.

I curled my hair while I waited, bored out of my mind and sipping at a green apple Smirnoff Ice while I waited. After I was done I walked back and forth, thinking about all the terrible things that could go wrong tonight and letting my mind spiral until I got the text from Seamus that they were here.

I grabbed my plastic bag with all my alcohol and my small purse with my ID and credit card in it and hurried out, slipping my heels on as I left. I slid into the back of the car and they both looked back at me.

"Happy birthday!"

I smiled. "Technically, my birthday is tomorrow, but thanks."

They gave each other a look and it took all my self control not to ask them what that meant. I really was growing as a person.

"Okay so, also when we go in, there's a good chance they're going to think that you're my boyfriend, Kech." I was blushing and felt so awkward but just forged on. "When I first went back to my place Lanna was really freaked out so I told her we had hooked up because if I told her I was almost kidnapped and attacked again she would have totally freaked out and then I didn't want to say that you were training me to fight so it seemed like a pretty good idea at the start as far as coverups go but then I realize now that it was a mistake..." I was literally vomiting words at this point.

"Arro," Kech said, and I could hear the laugh in his voice.

"Yeah?" I cringed a little.

"Take a breath."

I nodded and gave him a sheepish smile in the rearview mirror. "You guys are the best."

Seamus snorted and we pulled into Embrie's house just in time. I did not want to hear whatever roast Seamus had ready for me.

We stepped out of the car and I had them follow me to the backyard where we were practically assaulted by the girls running to hug me and meet them. Thankfully the guys hung back and were a little less aggressive with their greetings.

"Is this your boyfriend?" Embrie gave me a hug and smiled at him. "Hi, I'm Embrie."

"Nice to meet you," Kech said a little sheepishly, shaking her hand and other subsequent hands.

"Guys how about we give the guys some space," I said and they all apologized and went to grab more alcohol and sit around the pool. Seamus went to join them, flirting with Lanna which made me laugh. She was harder to impress than anyone I had ever met.

"I'm sorry about that," I looked up at Kech, trying to see how traumatized he was by being assaulted with greetings by a crowd of just-out-of-university students. "I didn't realize that they were going to be so aggressive."

"I don't understand," he said slowly.

My heart sank. I had traumatized my friend. "They just get really excited about stuff like this and since I've never actually brought a guy to one of these things, let alone someone they think is my boyfriend-"

"No." he interrupted. "I don't mean that. I just... don't understand. You're not... embarrassed of me?"

It took a second for that to set in. I looked up at him and saw a look of absolute astonishment on his face. "I could never be embarrassed of you." I pulled him into a hug before I could reconsider and I could feel him shaking. He was so tall I had to stand on my tip toes to properly hug him and I could feel my calves start to burn but I didn't let go. He smelled amazing, and part of me kind of just wanted to smell him forever. Then I realized that was weird and pulled back gently.

"Do you wanna go hang out with everyone?" I asked and took his hand gently. I mean friends could do that. Hold hands and stuff. Totally.

We went and sat at the edge, joining in on a game of Piccolo. It was the weirdest game, one of those party apps that people played and also continually wondered why they were playing it as they did.

"Everyone who hasn't kissed Lanna take a drink. If nobody has, then Lanna has to drink five times," I read out and laughed. "Drink Lan," I knew for a fact that she hadn't hooked up with anyone here.

Eight drinks later we had decided to just stay here - nobody wanted to go to the club and I was having so much fun here. I was leaning back against Kech and his arm was around my waist. The world was fuzzy, but in the way that was fun. I didn't think I was going to vomit and everything seemed so much happier like this.

"So how did you guys meet?" Carrie, another of my friends asked.

Seamus laughed from beside Lanna, "Yes, how did you two meet?"

"At a club," Kech said smoothly. He was stroking my arm, making my stomach tighten and I was suddenly finding it very hard to think.

"Yeah," I said, "He actually saved me from some... guys that wouldn't leave me alone." I looked up at him and smiled, realizing in that moment just how wonderful he was. He never pushed me too hard. I had to practically beg him not to go easy on me during our practice. "He was amazing." I said, a little breathlessly.

"Damn, that's so cute." Carrie sighed dreamily. "Does Kech have any single friends?"

"Leave him alone," I joked and yawned.

"We should get you home." Kech said gently. I wondered why the alcohol wasn't affecting him. Can Dark-Hunters get drunk? I couldn't even remember.

"Can I stay at your house tonight? I don't want to be alone." I said in a small voice and the small part of me that was still sort of in control kicked myself for being so weak but he smiled. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my head and helped me stand.

"You're always welcome to stay with me."

I waved goodbye to Lanna and Seamus returned with us. Seamus drove - he had decided that he didn't want to drink- and Kech and I sat in the back. I was half asleep, leaning against his side. "How did it go with Lanna?" I asked and yawned.

"She gave me her number." Seamus shrugged, "Seems like a start."

I closed my eyes and smiled. "You should be proud. She rarely gives guys her number."

I remember waking up in the red room and then falling asleep quickly but Kech was nowhere to be found. I guess that was for the best. Drunk me had gone a little overboard the night before.

 _There was a light, so bright surrounding me. It was coming toward me. I lifted a hand toward it as it coalesced into a vaguely humanoid shape. There was no face, and it was neither male nor female. It reached a hand toward me and I grabbed it and a searing pain filled me. I screamed but no sound seemed to come out. I could feel my body reshaping itself, the light searing through every part of me until I thought I would die and then more after that. The glow faded around me._

I gasped and opened my eyes, and realized that I was floating in midair. My body immediately fell and hit the bed with a dull thud. Standing around the bed were an array of men I had never seen and Kech closest to the head. I tried to get my breathing to slow, and looked at each of them.

They were all extremely tall. One man was wearing sunglasses inside - weird, I thought - and his hair was a bright shade of blue. A man stood next to him that could have been his double, but this man had blonde hair and blue eyes. Next to him was a man with lavender eyes and for some reason he was wearing board shorts, which didn't make any sense to me. I looked at Kech and I could see the fear in his gaze and it made me feel small. All these men in here were emanating this aura of danger and it made me feel suffocated.

"Get out." I snapped. Various amounts of shock showed on their faces, but nobody moved. "Get out of the room. Now." I said again.

When none of them made to move I rolled off the bed to my feet. "Fine. Then I'm leaving."

"Wait," The blue eyed man said and grabbed my wrist - not painfully, but firmly.

My fear and anger and confusion just boiled over and I snapped. I used one of the moves that Kech had shown me and threw the man over my shoulder into the bed so hard that the bed splintered around him. I stumbled back a step and looked between the faces of these men whose shock was written so clearly.

I stumbled down the hall, fumbling for the bathroom door handle and once I had it I pushed it open and slammed it shut behind myself, locking it as fast as I could. I didn't want them to follow me. What was happening to me? I felt so much power, it was like it was thrumming through my veins. I had never experienced anything like this before. It was amazing and I was terrified.

I looked in the mirror and gasped when I saw that my hair was now spattered with strands of auburn and gold. I touched it and it stayed. It was real. This was real. I looked healthier than I had in months.

"Arrosa?" Kech knocked on the door gently.

"I'm really not in the mood right now Akecheta." I said, using his full name just to emphasize how freaked out I was right now. How would you feel if you had just woken up in a room full of strange men after a night out drinking. I shuddered. I knew these men hadn't touched me but that didn't stop my hands from shaking.

"We just want to help." he said.

"Yeah, waking up in a room full of strange men, super helpful." I said snidely and didn't even feel the slightest bit bad.

He was silent on the other side but I could see his shadow on the other side of the door. Maybe he felt bad. Good. I knew he was telling the truth, too. I knew that they did want to help me but I didn't even know what was happening and I was really tired of being a passive participant in my own life. All I really wanted was to take control of my life for once. Control my own destiny.

It seemed like I would never get what I want.

 **Ok that's chapter 4! Please review even just a sentence would really make my day! Thank you for reading!**


	7. Chapter 5

I sat on the floor of the bathroom and listened to them discussing me down the hall. It was crazy, because even eight rooms down I could hear them as if they were sitting beside me. This whole transformation thing had its benefits.

"What is she?" Kech asked the other men.

"She's Atlantean, but we don't know who her parents were." One of the men said.

What were they talking about? I knew exactly who my parents were. Probably.

"The weird thing is, she's only part Atlantean. Whatever her other form is... I've never seen anything like it. A humanoid creature with pointed ears and gold wings..." his voice trailed off.

"Aren't you supposed to be omiscient?" Kech asked a little rudely.

I could almost picture the lavender eyed man staring him down. "The world is changing. If I'm right, this is just the beginning."

"What do we do with her?" Another asked.

"What do you mean do with her? I called you because I thought you could help her." Kech responded.

I could feel my heart beat a little faster and my breath catch in my throat. They were going to try and hurt me, or 'take care of the problem' that I currently seemed to be. Not today. Suddenly I felt like a prisoner in a house that had only ever been welcoming to me. I couldn't stay here.

I looked at the window. Too small. I guess I would have to use the door. I hoped with my heightened hearing I could at least be quieter than the men that were currently arguing about me.

I opened the bathroom door surprisingly silently, shutting it behind me incase they came to see what was happening with me. I could still hear them arguing about me. Keep her in protective custody, leave her alone, get answers directly from her. I didn't want to hear it.

I crept down the hallway, certain that I was going to get out of here. Thankfully, I was closer to the stairs. Seamus swung around the corner and nearly bumped into me. He started to open his mouth to speak but I put my hand over his mouth and shook my head. His eyes widened but he nodded. I tugged him by the hand back the way he had come and down the stairs, wincing every time his steps were too loud.

"What's going on?" he whispered when we got to the front door.

"I have to get out of here. They're talking about taking me into "protective custody"," I said, using my fingers to make air quotes. "I won't be a prisoner again."

"They're good people, Arro, you just have to trust them."

"I don't care if they're saints, Sea." I snapped and instantly regretted it. Seamus winced like I had slapped him. "I'm sorry I just... I don't trust them."

"Because they're men?" he asked and it was my turn to wince. Maybe it was partially because they were men. But I trusted Kech. I just didn't like that they were trying to decide my fate for me.

"Because they're trying to make my decision for me."

"Well then, what do you want to do?" The lavender eyed man asked from behind me. I whirled and narrowed my eyes at him. I was really beginning to dislike him. His arms were crossed in front of his chest, emphasizing just how much bigger he was than me.

I raised my eyebrows at him and shook my head. "I want to go home and get some rest. I want to stay the hell away from men who think they can decide my fate." I thought about my house and wanted to be there so badly. I blinked and suddenly I was sitting on my bed and I yelped, jumping off. I looked around the room, wonder how that was possible. Teleportation? I thought really hard about the kitchen and there I was, in front of my fridge.

"Damn," I breathed. That was new. My heart slowed and I smiled. Maybe this new me wasn't that bad.

A knock sounded at my front door. I jumped, mentally berating myself for being so jumpy. I needed to relax. I walked down the stairs to my front door, and looked through the looking hole. At my front door stood the three men and Kech. Excellent. Just what I needed.

"Sorry we don't want any!" I called and started walking back up the stairs, ensuring that the door was still locked. I heard the lock snick opened behind me and then they were entering my house. "Yes, please come in. Make yourselves at home." I said sarcastically and the lavender eyed man snorted.

"You've got an attitude." he said.

"You would too if you had to deal with men all the time." I said without turning around. I turned into my one room, a kitchen/living room that was separated by a small wall. There was one love seat in the living room and a kitchen table, with four chairs. Usually I would sit in one of the chairs and allow my guests to sit on the comfier seats but today I wasn't feeing all that hospitable. I sprawled out on the love seat, ensuring that there would be no space left for anyone to sit down beside me. They could sit on the floor if thy didn't like the chairs.

They each grabbed a chair and moved them from around the table into a semi circle in front of me. When they sat down the chairs creaked and I could see them eyeing them a little suspiciously. We had gotten the chairs for free on a facebook buy/sell page, and we had gotten decent use out of them.

"You need knew chairs." The blonde man said.

"You need to learn that following people to their houses is creepy but clearly that's not going to happen anytime soon, either." I replied icily and he raised his hands in front of him in surrender.

"I'm Ash," the one with the blue hair and sunglasses said. "This is my brother Styxx," he gestured to the blonde one, "and my... Savitar." He waited a second and I realized that he was waiting for me to tell them my name. I put two and two togther, realizing that Ash was the head of the Dark-Hunters from the stories I had read. And Savitar. It made sense when I looked at him. He had the same arrogance I had read of, the same sort of aura that surrounded him.

"I'm Arrosa," I said grudgingly.

"You seem to have made friends with one of my Dark-Hunters." Ash said.

"That's very observant." I replied, deciding it was a good idea not to make eye contact with Kech. I was really displeased with him right now. How else would they know where I lived.

"How about you cut the attitude and you let us help you?" Savitar said, sounding almost bored. If he was so bored he was more than welcome to leave.

"You don't even know how to help me." I replied. "You don't even know what I am." I was starting to get irritated. Why were they doing this, why were they here if they couldn't help me?

"You're half Atlantean. That means that you're part of my Pantheon." Ash said and I remembered that he was a god of the Atlantean pantheon of gods. He was the son of Apollymi, the Great Destroyer. He looked younger than I had pictured. The books always described him as young, looking bout 19-21 but I never really thought about what that would really look like. To be honest, he looked the same age as me. Both he and Styxx did.

"So we're part of the same club. How does that help me?" I asked, hating myself for how rude I was being, even as I continued to be that way.

"I can help you find yourself. Find what your divine province is." he said overly patiently.

I sighed. He really was trying to help. and I was panicking and making things harder for him. I really needed to stop being such a jerk. "Okay."

"Close your eyes." he said.

I gave him a hard look and then closed them. "Why do these things always involve closing your eyes?"

"Look deep within yourself. Deeper than you've ever gone. You have to find that place where all your fears rest and look past them to find this." His voice was soft, soothing like one of those hypnotists you see on TV.

I tried not to panic when he mentioned my fears. They were hidden deep down for a reason. I tried to open my mind. Search within myself for the deepness that he spoke of. Images bombarded me of dead students in my classroom and chairs that I never wanted to be reminded of. I felt like I was going to vomit. I couldn't do this. "Okay, that's not going to work." My voice cracked and I kicked myself for showing weakness in front of these men. I knew what Ash and Styxx had been through. I had read their books, knew their stories. This was nothing compared to what they had been through.

Ash's face softened a fraction, "You can do this."

"Can you go get me some Thai Express?" I asked Kech and the other two. I needed them to be gone for this. Ash would need to be here to coach me through it but I couldn't do this in front of a bunch of other people. "Tofu pad thai."

The men looked ready to protest but one look from Ash had them out the door.

"Thank you." I said when they were gone. I could feel tears prickling my eyes but I swallowed hard at the lump in my throat and pushed forwards. I closed my eyes again. I pushed back to the place where my fears rested. The fear of being kidnapped, tortured. The fear of being assaulted again. That my family would be brutally ripped away from me, tortured or hurt in the same way that I had been. I could distantly feel tears dripping down my face as images of my family and friends flashed through my mind. My body was shaking but I still couldn't feel anything.

"There's something you're holding back. You have to push past it. You don't have to heal but you have to accept whatever it is that hurt you. Accept your fear, Arrosa." Ash murmured.

I shook my head but kept my eyes closed. There was nothing else. All my fears were on the table. I pushed deeper still, trying to figure out what he was talking about. I searched within myself to see what I was missing, what feelings I was keeping hidden even from myself. "There's nothing else," I said, my words almost a sob. I felt so tired, so broken. Alone. Oh my goodness.

And there in my mind I could feel myself, the void that was the darkest and most awful parts of myself. I didn't want to be alone. Was afraid that I would scare away everyone I had ever loved because I was unsaveble, broken. Who would want to love someone like me?

As I realized that my biggest fear was of being unloveable and alone I felt something shift and there it was. This beautiful thing inside me, a part of me that was so perfect. I could feel within myself the power to create, to heal. Funny how I wasn't able to heal myself. I opened my mouth to speak but instead of words there was song, in a language I had never heard. The strange language flowed from my lips and I couldn't stop it. I didn't really want to. I could feel the song wrap around me, and it picked me up. It made the final change in me and as my eyes fluttered open I could feel my place in the world.

"Well that was super strange and a little bit corny." I said softly. I watched as a single tear ran down Ash's cheek and wondered if he had heard the song. Even now the words were beginning to make sense to me. It was a song of beginning. "Thank you," I reached up to my face and realized it was soaked. I needed to clean up before the others returned.

After a long moment of silence Ash asked, "What is it?"

"Creation, protection and healing. And I guess song." I laughed without humor, the deadness in my voice left the room feeling stale after the song that had come from my lips. I had never been able to sing like that. "Ironic."

He gave me a look, as if he were realizing something for the first time. "What are your parents?"

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Are your parents human?"

"Well I can't think of what else they would be. I think if they were some sort of god I would know."

The door opened and I could hear the men walking up the stairs. Kech poked his head around the corner. "We okay to come in?"

I nodded and they all filed back in, handing out various packages with noodles in them. He passed me some chopsticks and hoisin sauce. I looked down at the noodles and my stomach turned. After facing all my insecurities I really didn't feel like eating.

"So I'm Atlantean." I said. "How is that even possible?"

"My mother took me from her womb and placed me in the womb of another who was already pregnant. Do you have a twin?" Ash asked, like it was totally normal to have a twin and that was a perfectly good explanation.

I gave him a look that showed how weird I thought that question was. "Of course I don't have a twin."

"Then it would have had to be something different." Styxx said around a mouthful of noodles. "Could a goddess have possibly put her in the womb of another earlier in the cycle? Both you and Urian were moved well into your pregnancies."

Savitar leaned back, downing his second bucket of sauce laden rice noodles. "It's theoretically possible. But the only Atlantean goddesses currently alive are Apollymi, Katra and Bethany." Savitar looked at Styxx, "Has your wife recently removed a small fetus and placed it in any womens wombs?"

Styxx rolled his eyes and looked toward me, analyzing. I fought the urge to shrink under his gaze. "Look at her eyes."

"What about them?" Kech asked. We had been researching my eyes for weeks now. I wasn't surprised that he was interested.

"They look like hers," Styxx said, but somehow I knew the her he was referring to wasn't me.

"Who?" I asked.

Ash grimaced. "My mother."

"Apollymi," I said, surprised. "But her eyes are swirling silver... mine are gold and green."

"They move like hers, the colours that swirl." Savitar said, agreeing with Styxx.

"Is there any way to speak to her?" I asked.

Savitar grimaced. "I can-"

"She hates you." Styxx said drily. "I'll go. She actually likes me."

"And what about me?" I asked quietly.

"I think you've made it clear that you don't want us making any decisions for you." Savitar said, the snark evident in his tone.

I gave each of them my phone number and made them promise to call me as soon as they heard anything. I was ready to get to bed. I heard my front door open and Lanna came up the steps, giving me a weird look when she saw the men sitting in our living room. Our chairs looked comically small for them, and they were still sitting there with minimal complaint.

"Arro?"

I got up and walked over to her, hoping that the blotchiness from my crying had faded away. "They're friends of mine and Kech's. Sorry I forgot to text you that they were coming." I hadn't actually known they were coming, or that this would happen today.

"Okay babe. Happy birthday." she smiled and I blanched. Right. It was my birthday. I had totally forgotten. She gave me a quick hug and headed up to her room. I had to figure out what I was going to do about this. It would be dangerous for her, living with me now. I would likely start to make enemies, and they would come after her. I couldn't let that happen.

I went back and saw that the men were all getting ready to leave. I went to awkwardly stand by the entrance to the stairs. "Thank you for helping me."

They all sort of nodded and filed out. Kech stayed back and looked around, trying to find somewhere, anywhere to look other than me. "I'm sorry for bringing them. I just... I didn't know what was happening and I couldn't lose you." He said it so softly I wasn't even sure I had heard it.

"Kech... I understand why you did it. I'm sorry for how I reacted. I've been kind of awful today." I leaned my head against the wall and just felt so tired.

"It's your party," he smiled. I couldn't help but smile back and I gave him a hug.

"Thank you for helping." I said.

"I'll always be here to help you."

 **And there's chapter 5! I know that it's starting a little slow but this story needs context before it can really get going. Everything is almost set up and the real, Crossover fun can begin. PLEASE REVIEW!**


	8. Chapter 6

I stared at my phone, waiting for a call that I wasn't even sure would come.

It had been a week and a half since I had become a goddess in my full right. I was avoiding my family, hoping that if I didn't go see them that they wouldn't realize that I was suddenly a different person. Even Kech hadn't called or texted. I was beginning to worry. I had sent a few texts and none were responded to. I couldn't tell if they were willfully ignoring me, if they thought this was better but it was making me angry. I was about ready to march over to his house and demand answers but I wasn't quite ready to be rejected. Perhaps I hadn't made the cut for their new club.

I quit my job a week ago. I realized that I could just create cash from thin air, similarly to how Artemis paid her Dark-Hunters. There was no point working at a gym right now when I could spend my time doing better things. I could finally be the healer I had always dreamed of being.

My phone buzzed and I jumped, practically throwing my phone in the air in my haste to answer it. "Hello?" I said, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"It's Styxx. I'm picking you up in thirty." he said and then hung up.

"Okay. Bye." I said to the empty phone and went up to my room to pack. I didn't know what we were doing but I wanted to be prepared. I grabbed my backpack and put a few changes of clothes, my wallet and some assorted toiletries. I left Lanna a note saying I was going to be out for a bit and that I would call her later. I was finally getting my answers.

I practically ran to the car when Styxx texted that he was here. I saw Ash in the front seat and both their faces looked grim. Excellent. Then the news wasn't good, whatever it was. I noted that the car was expensive, but I couldn't tell what kind it was. I had never been a person who really paid that much attention to cars. The seats were leather and thankfully the car was cool. For some reason I had made the choice to wear jeans instead of shorts and I was already sweating.

"So are you going to tell me what you found out."

"Not yet." Ash replied, his voice strained.

I sighed but didn't fight them. Instead I watched out the window, trying to see where we were going. We slowly drove out of the suburbs, heading into the more industrialized part of town. Soon we passed through there, too and were heading into downtown. Here the streets were almost all one-ways and people thought that it would be ok to just step out into the middle of the street when the light was green. Homeless people sat on each street corner and sometimes in between, begging for whatever the people passing them could give.

We continued through until we started hitting streets I recognized. We were heading towards campus. I felt panic set in an closed my eyes, willing my heart to slow. I was fine. It wasn't the place that had done that to me. It was the people and those men were dead. At least, the daimons were. The human men were rotting behind bars.

"What are we doing here?" I asked quietly as we turned into an underground parking lot across from our Brooks residence building. The spots were small and I knew that some of the bitter students would likely key this car because of how nice and expensive it was. I didn't tell them. I was sure they could afford another just like it.

They didn't say a word, instead just exiting the car. This whole silence thing was really starting to bother me.

"If you don't tell me what's going on I'm leaving."

"Who's going to drive you home then?" Styxx asked.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "The city bus system here is one of the best on the continent. I'll take the bus home." My annoyance grew when they looked surprised, as if they thought I was too much of a princess to ride the bus.

"We'll tell you in a few minutes." Ash said gently and started leading us away.

"If you wanted to tell me the news, you could just tell me here." I said, even as I followed them. We were heading to the science buildings, passing the cafeteria and library on our way. There were few people here; summer school wasn't very popular and most of the short summer sessions had already finished in June. A few tourist groups flocked around the social science building, in which there was an entire wall of plants, grown sustainably and used to help purify the air in the building.

We entered the bioscience building and walked up the stairs. I knew this building like the back of my hand. I had spent years taking labs here, studying with friends. A pang of sadness twitched in my chest. So many memories in this building. The walls were a nasty grey colour and the railings were all a grey-blue. We walked to the third floor and into a lab with clean, black tables. The chairs had wheels but could have been better - the backs flopped around and didn't really do what normal chairs did. There were two computers for every lab bench, one at each end on each side. I had used those so many times, to upload images of slides from various experiments through the years.

"So what now?" I asked.

"We need to test your blood." Ash said.

I raised my eyebrows. Things were getting a little weird. "This lab doesn't store needles."

"We don't need a needle, we just need to prick your finger, get your DNA out and run a test." Styxx said.

"We're testing my DNA. For what?" I asked, then realized. "You want to know if we're related. But I don't think that will work either way- when your mother moved you from her womb to your birth mother's your DNA and his merged and you became twins. What if my DNA was merged with my family's too-"

Ash shook his head. "It's not that simple. When Styxx talked to my mother, she said that she hasn't been pregnant since my birth."

I nodded, realizing that this definitely was more complex than we thought it was. Why was nothing ever just easy? I tried to think of how this was possible. As far as I was aware gods didn't just up and appear, other than Cthonians and that was really a different thing altogether, because they were humans who became immortal and had the ability to kill the gods. So I must have some sort of Atlantean lineage, but how?

"Ok so you're testing to see if maybe we're related?" I asked. "The only thing is, testing against your DNA doesn't make sense. I should be tested against hers, yours and my sperm donor." Except we had no idea who that was.

"Let's just start here for now, okay?" Styxx said. They both seemed to be a little frazzled.

They took out five vials of blood. Five? "What are the other three?" I asked.

The two brothers gave each other a look. "Apollymi as your mother is only one theory we have."

"And the other theories?" I asked. There was obviously more than one. I looked between them and tried to think about what I knew of them from the books. The Atlantean gods that were left after the book Styxx were Bethany, Acheron, Katra, Apollymi locked up in Katoteros, and Urian sort of although he didn't seem to have any specific god powers other than being powerful and also a daimon due to his parentage. Their children I guess counted too but they were too young to have been my parent.

Neither of them seemed overly willing to give me information, so I just pulled out labels and started writing. 'Katra', 'Styxx', 'Bethany', 'Apollymi', 'Ash' and handed them the labels, daring them to tell me that I was wrong. Styxx couldn't be the parent that had given me the Atlantean heritage but his relationship with Bethany had lasted eleven thousand years, so another child from that union would not be a long shot. I didn't put Tori's name down, given that her relationship with Acheron would not have been older than I was.

"You're smart," Styxx said.

"Don't act so surprised." I said while I prepared to emulsify the blood and extract the DNA from them in a series of centrifugations and other various reactions. They were lucky that there were manuals with procedures here, or I wouldn't have remembered how to do it.

We spent the rest of the time doing it in silence. After about twenty minutes a man came in to check my work and help with the rest of the preparations, creating a series of gels to compare the DNA on.

"We won't finish today." I said.

"Yes we will," the man contradicted. "We're not doing a full DNA panel. Just enough to ascertain who your parents are."

I rolled my eyes and continued following the procedure. I was reminded how much I hated labs. They were tedious and I didn't want to use my degree for something like this. i wanted something to do with medicine, with healing others. I didn't care if I went into nursing, naturopathy, whatever. I just wanted to help.

"Do you hope that it's one of the five of you?" I asked quietly.

"What?" Ash said, looking almost stunned.

"Do you hope that I belong to one of you? Or do you hope that this will prove that I'm actually not your problem?" I pipetted a few drops of solution into my mixture. I really didn't know what answer I wanted. Did I even want another family? I hadn't really wanted any of this, but I wasn't sure I was ready for either answer. I had a family. A mother, father, sisters, brothers. We were a big family, but I loved them. Two boys and three girls, and I was the oldest. Next was my brother Darius who was 19, my sister Aaliya at 16, my brother Noel at 15 and my sister Valeriya at 13. We weren't always the closest, but we were always there for each other. I would go to war for them, die for them. I didn't understand how I could have another whole family now, too.

"I don't think of you as a problem, Arrosa." Ash said. "Neither of us do."

We pricked my finger and finished up the tests with that. The man who was assisting us was surprisingly silent, which I appreciated. Ash and Styxx literally had no idea what they were doing, and spent most of the time sitting and reading out the procedure to me, usually with mistakes.

I swallowed hard. "Well that's good."

x.x.x.x.x.

We got the results a few days later. They took me to a Thai Express this time which was cute, and even bought my food. I was nauseous, shaking. I had no idea how I would react to whatever news they had for me. I couldn't see anything on their damned similar faces. If there was one thing they were good at it was keeping their emotions from me.

They grabbed the food and sat down, watching me move the food around on my plate without really eating it. It smelled spicy in here, like sriracha sauce and noodles.

"So?" I said at last, looking between the two of them. Ash was still wearing those infernal sunglasses, so I couldn't even see what he was thinking from the look in his eyes.

"We have the results." Ash said.

My frustration was growing. "I am aware of that. What. Are. They."

"Neither of us are your father." Styxx started and then paused as if for dramatic effect. I would have laughed but now didn't seem like the time.

"There's a but coming." I said.

"But we are related." Ash said. "Not in the way that any of us thought."

"So how are we related then?" I asked, the impatience spilling out into my voice. I just wanted to know what was going on with me, and this whole discovery thing was making me extremely edgy, and not in the hipster way.

"Some of your DNA is from Apollymi, and some is from Archon, but there is some that none of my squires have ever seen. Your DNA isn't mixed like mine was with Styxx in the womb. It's like you have three separate parents that donated to your DNA, but only the normal amount of chromosomes remained." Ash frowned, trying to explain it.

So I was a genetic anomaly. Wonderful. One more way I was a total freak. "How do you know that some of my DNA is from Archon?" I asked. We hadn't even tested his. Of course we hadn't. If my memory held true Styxx had killed him thousands of years ago. "How is it even possible - Archon is dead?"

"When we talked to Apollymi the first time she said that I was the only child she had ever been able to have. But when I talked to her again... She told me of a deal she had made with the Source, to give her a child. If she could have a child she would give a part of her to the Source. Archon did the same. She never realized the Source had taken anything until now." Styxx continued.

"So the Source took her egg and his sperm and what? Combined it with another random beings?" I asked.

Ash shook his head. "Not random. We think that the Source combined them within your mother. So you're genetically related to them,"

"But you are also related to us. Although I guess Ash more than me but still." Styxx gave me an awkward smile.

I nodded, and smiled a little. The tension sort of ebbed out of me slowly and I realized that I was had been so worried that they were going to tell me that my family wasn't my own. Not that that would have mattered. I would love them either way but I needed that piece of belonging. But as I looked at these two men I felt my heart expand. Two more brothers to add to my already huge family.

I had always wanted to be able to have giant family reunions. I suddenly felt unsure of myself. Neither of them were showing any emotion, and I couldn't tell if they were pleased or if they were just going with the flow of things. I didn't want to be the flow. I wanted to be a choice, to be wanted. To belong. Maybe that was too much to ask.

"So what now?" I said, rubbing at my arm. I still hadn't really touched my food.

"We were thinking that you might want to come over for dinner and meet our wives and children." Ash said.

My gaze moved from my food to his face and I felt my eyes fill with tears. They were putting in real effort. If they didn't want me to be a part of their family they would have just left it at this. They weren't obligated to invite me out. But they did.

"I would really like that." I laughed awkwardly and before I could stop myself I stood up and hugged each of them. I was trembling, like a person does when they have too much caffeine. This was a lot of excitement for one day. "You know my siblings will love this. They always wished that there was someone older than me. They said it would keep me in check. They're going to flip when they realize that there are two."

Styxx smiled and I could feel the awkward tension slowly easing out. I didn't think we would be comfortable right away but hopefully we would be soon.

"How many do you have?" Ash asked.

"Two sisters and two brothers. I guess four brothers now, technically."

We had our food packed up and left. They dropped me off at my apartment, promising to call me with the details of the dinner they were going to set up. Styxx assured me that there would be vegetarian options while Ash decided to poke fun at vegetarianism in general. It felt nice, joking with them. My brothers. It seemed strange to call them that but the good kind of strange.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

I decided to go see my family. They lived in a five bedroom house which was a small squeeze for seven people, but now with me out wasn't so bad. Aalyia and Valeriya had shared a room until I had moved out, at which time Aaliya was allowed to move into my room.

I walked into the house and the dog came running at me, skidding to a halt around my ankles. She was a standard poodle, her head come to hand height. She was gold and curly, and thankfully didn't trigger any of my allergies. The cats poked their heads around various walls. Thomas O'Malley was a siamese cat and Winnie was a ragdoll cat. Both were beautiful but they were the treasures of my sisters. My brothers loved them but spent most of their time out with girls or with friends, and didn't have time to take care of pets.

"Arrosa!" My mother cried in delight and came to give me a tight hug. She was round around the waist and had dark circles under her eyes from working nights, but that didn't detract from her beauty. She was about 5'4'', shorter than me by a few. My dad came next giving me a tight hug as well. He wasn't my birth father - he had met and married my mother about ten years ago, after my birth father had died of cancer. It had taken my mother two and a half years to let anyone else in and another six months of convincing from all of us that Mark was a good man. They took us all on a trip to Hawaii and got married on the beach.

We all called Mark 'dad', much to his delight. We were all so young when our dad had died. Darius and I were the only ones with strong memories of him. But there was room in my heart for more than one father. I mean, the children of gay parents had room. Why couldn't I?

"Mum I need to talk to you." I said a little too intensely.

She nodded, looking me up and down. "I guess it's time I tell you what you truly are."

 **And there's chapter 6! I tried to keep the medical stuff to a minimum so that people wouldn't get too bored/ confused. Shoot me a review if you like it :)**


	9. Chapter 7

I sat across the couch from my mother, totally stunned. A part of me still didn't believe her story, even after everything that had happened with me. She had told me her story - and the beginning of mine.

My mother used to live on a continent where a cruel king had taken rule and started to kill people. She was stuck on a continent where she couldn't use her powers and was stuck in her fae form. She ended up getting captured and when she was in that cell she prayed to the heavens and the Source answered. Struck a deal with her. It would get her out of her situation if she agreed to have a child, blessed with the power of another world. The only catch was that she had to live in that world, too.

I was created by the Source, and with both sides of the story it was clear that I had been created for a reason. My mother didn't seem to know why, either. She had given up her immortality for this - for a life in another world with me.

"I met your father a month after being sent here. He was so kind, he didn't care that I was pregnant with another man's child." A tear slipped down her cheek.

"So you're... fae? Like the Tua De Danaan." I said slowly, trying to understand. My siblings were utterly silent on either side of me, but my dad didn't seem surprised. I guess it made sense that my mum had told him.

She shook her head. "The Tua De Danaan are this universe's version of the Fae. Their are infinite universes with infinite variations of us. What I am is only one of them." She paused for a second, looking to the ceiling trying to figure out a way to explain to us what was going on. "The Fae from my world aren't totally immortal. Eventually we go through the Fading and sort of just cease to exist."

"So are we all... Fae?" Aaliya asked.

"You're all half-Fae - we call it demi Fae." she explained. "Most Fae come into themselves during puberty, something we call the Settling but here... our blood seems to react differently. Even now I can't feel the Fae in your sister."

"I think it's cool." Darius said. Noel -who idolized him even though he would never admit it- immediately agreed. Darius had his arms crossed in front of him and was wearing a black graphic T-shirt for Five Finger Death Punch, and Darius was wearing something similar. I thought it was adorable but we all had this unverbalized agreement that we wouldn't say anything. It would ruin it for both of them.

"We have two more brothers, you know." I said after a moment. I looked at my mother. "The woman that donated her egg... she's a goddess. A goddess of destruction, but she's immortal and she had a son. He was put..." I explained everything to them, but my mother just smiled. She had always been one to welcome people in.

"When do we get to meet them?" she asked.

"Soon." I said. I just had to convince them it would be a good idea to come to my parent's house.

We all separated soon after that. I went up to Aaliya's room with her and Darius, and we all sat on her bed. "How would you guys feel about a road trip?"

"Mum will never let us have the car," Aaliya said.

I waggled my eyebrows at them. "I can teleport. She won't even notice we're gone."

They grinned at me and got up to grab their things, returning with a backpack or purse.

"Where are we going?" Aaly asked.

"I was thinking New Orleans. If the books have anything right it's one of the better places to meet supernatural creatures." I shrugged and grabbed their hands. I closed my eyes and thought about the bar Sanctuary. I knew this wasn't really an exact science, and that it would get easier with practice but I just wanted us to arrive without causing a huge commotion. I opened my eyes and we were hiding in the shadow of an alley across the street from the bar. The sky was growing orange, it being just past dinner time.

The bouncer out front turned just a little, and I wondered if he could hear us. Or smell us. He had a bow and arrow shaped tattoo, the mark of Artemis. His hair was blonde and I had to admit he was even more attractive than I had pictured. If I was right, the man out front was Dev Peltier. I wondered what part of the story we had walked into. Which book we were on.

When we entered we would soon find out. The other day Ash had kindly let me know that I had to start masking my power. Apparently I was a giant beacon of "HELLO LOOK AT ME I'M SPICY AND HAVE SO MUCH HAPPY POWER AND LIFE". He said that if I kept flaunting what I had people were either going to start using me or killing me. I hadn't fully mastered it yet - he said what showed was still enough to scare most supernaturals, but at least I wasn't a supernova in a room full of mosquitoes.

"Your IDs are going to say twenty-one when you show them. Also maybe don't introduce yourselves as Ash's siblings, since he hasn't even met you yet." I said, and then led them out into the sun and across the street.

"Can I see some ID?" he asked, smiling in a friendly way.

I handed mine over, and my siblings did as well. I could feel their nervousness. I was the only one that was actually old enough to be let into a bar in the states, but he didn't know that. I willed both IDs to have the birth year set to 1997, and hoped that would work. He handed them back and I had to refrain from blowing out a breath of relief. We were in. I was surprised that he hadn't commented on the fact that the IDs were Canadian. I guess they got a lot of tourists here.

We entered and a band was playing on the stage, some sort of rock music. I grinned. I didn't recognize the song but this was pretty much my favourite genre. Even Darius seemed to perk up when he heard, and he was pretty much perpetually pouty.

We walked to the bar and I ordered us some shots. It was a bit early, but we were young and I needed a little bit of liquid courage if I was going to actually attempt to meet some of these people.

"Akra Arro!" A girl called from the other end of the bar. She waved a hand that held a coffin shaped purse, and I watched her slip a bottle of barbecue sauce back into it. The first image that came to mind was Simi, Acheron's daughter/ charonte protector. But that couldn't be. She looked so... human?

I smiled as she ran over and gave me a hug. "The Simi is sooo excited to meet you. Akri papa tolds me all about you and showed me a picture - that's how the Simi knows what Akra Arro looks like." She stood a head taller than me, and was wearing a cute skirt and corseted shirt set that was red and black, with white skulls and crossbones on it.

"It's good to meet you too, Simi." I heard Sweet Home Alabama play and sighed. Ash was here. I didn't want to leave now because it would seem like I didn't want to hang out with him, which I did. I just didn't want him to feel ambushed with Darius and Aaly. It would be kind of a shock to walk into your favourite bar and see your new sister and your even newer brother and sister.

Maybe coming here hadn't been the right call.

"Why are they playing this?" Aaly made a face. She didn't really like country music - even though this song was a classic.

"They play it when akri comes so the scardies can leave before he comes." Simi explained as if that helped clear everything up.

I looked to the entrance, and there he was. Today his hair was a bright green and he was wearing an outfit of all black - as per usual. He scanned the room and his eyes found us. If he was surprised he didn't show it. He walked over to where we were standing. Much to my surprise, he reached out and hugged me gently. It wasn't long, but it was a lot from a man who could barely let anyone in. Simi gave him a tight hug and he looked at Aaly and Darius, who were both examining him as well.

"Aaly, Darius - this is Ash. Ash - this is Darius and Aaliya. Two of your new sibilings." I smiled awkwardly and looked around the room, wishing that someone would come and interrupt this.

Darius looked him up and down. Ash was nearly seven inches taller than Darius, and a foot taller than Aaly and I. Darius pretended not to be intimidated and reached his hand out. "Welcome to the family."

Ash's lips curled up slightly, "Thanks."

Aaly smiled awkwardly. She was extremely shy bordering on social awkwardness and had a very hard time meeting people. In large rooms like this she was never fully comfortable, but since there were so many people she never actually had to talk to them either. I really hoped that she could do this.

I could see her trembling and then she clenched her jaw. Even as she shook she leaned forward and grabbed him in one of the most awkward hugs I had ever seen. Ash's face gentled a little. I was sure he could feel how uncomfortable she was. He knew what an effort this was. I somehow thought it was what he experienced every day.

"Nice to meet you," Aaly said so softly it was almost undistinguishable from the music.

She stepped back and hugged herself with her arms. I touched her softly and she looked up at me, relaxing a little. "I think I need another drink."

"Are you even old enough to drink?" Ash asked, looking between the two of them.

I rolled my eyes. "I really don't think two drinks is that big of a deal."

He raised an eyebrow but shrugged. "I'll buy you guys a round."

I smiled and we turned to face the bartender. I wanted to say that it was Aimee Peltier behind the bar. Her blonde hair sort of gave her away, but she was pregnant. It seemed strange to see a pregnant woman bartending.

"Ash! Simi! Good to see you guys. Who are your friends?" she looked at each of us, her eyes resting a little longer on Aaliya who definitely didn't look twenty-one.

"They're actually my siblings." he said almost sheepishly.

"Acheron Parthenopaeus! You didn't tell us that you had more siblings than Styxx." she chided.

"We didn't know either, until a few days ago." I replied, accepting a Tom Collins from her.

"What's that about Ash having siblings?" An attractive man came over and kissed Aimee on the side of her head. He had black hair and a days growth of beard on his face.

"He was just telling us that he's discovered some new ones." she gestured to the three of us.

Fang grinned. "That's the best thing I've heard today. Good to meet you. I'm Fang, and this is my mate Aimee."

We all exchanged greetings and sat around a table, friends of Ash's coming and going.

"You're really popular here." Darius said, admiringly. He held a half-filled beer in front of him, and was picking at a plate of fries.

Ash tried to brush it off but three more men came over to say hello.

"Ash!" Nick Gautier came over and smiled. I frowned, confused. In the books they were enemies, because of the way that Nick's mother had died. It was because Nick had slept with Simi. I then remembered the Chronicles of Nick verison - the fact that he and Simi had met much earlier, all the events that had happened because of Ambrose going back in time. I had always wondered how the events of that would play out in the new version of the Dark-Hunter timeline. I guess now I knew.

I was grateful that Nick didn't have the bow and arrow mark of the Dark-Hunters on his face. It meant that he was still 'human' - he was the Malachai, but it meant that he hadn't yet died. He was attractive - all three of them were. His eyes were a blue that a girl could stare into and he was tall but not in a way that looked awkward or lanky. Beside him was a man the same height - both around 6'4''. He had black hair and brown eyes, and a look on his face that said fuck you and the rest of the world. The final man had longer, dark hair and eyes of hazel and green.

If these were what Ash's friends looked like Aaly was going to be forever blushing when we hung out with them.

"Nick, Caleb, Xev - I would like you to meet my sisters Arrosa and Aaliya, and my brother Darius." he gestured to each of us as he said our names and we each nodded, Aaly hiding her face a little as she did so.

I gave them a dazzling smile - the booze brought out the flirt in me. "Why don't you join us. I would love to get to know Ash's friends."

They squeezed into the booth and when I saw how squishy it would be I insisted that they go and grab chairs. I was not about to be squished by their broad shoulders for the rest of the evening, beautiful or not.

"So what do you do right now, Arrosa?" Nick asked. He was being polite, too polite. Either these men really were uninterested in us or they just respected my brother enough to leave his sisters alone.

"Arro is fine -ahhhg," I groaned and pressed a hand to my eye. The world shifted and I felt it spin around me, as if it were trying to dump me out of the booth. Distantly, I could hear them asking me what was wrong. Instead, an image of demons with dark, soulless eyes and and darkness surrounding them. The Valg. I could hear the whispers of what they were in my mind, as if my gifts were speaking to me.

I felt a hand on my arm. "Focus. Push the vision back."

I gasped and pulled myself out of it. I could feel the sweat dripping down my body and when I opened my eyes they were all staring at me. Nick seemed to think I was a little crazy, but Caleb and Xev looked grim. I wonder if anybody had ever had a vision like that near them.

"The Valg are coming to earth." I said, looking at Aaly. The recognition at the name sparked in her eyes and then she paled. The Valg were a specie of demons from a seemingly fictional world, in the books written by Sarah J Maas. They weren't supposed to be real. But then again neither were the Dark-Hunters and yet here my brother sat next to me, leader of them all. Although I guess he had given up ties with Artemis, so I wasn't sure if that even applied anymore.

"What are the Valg?" Caleb asked. He didn't seem overly pleased not to know something.

"A race of demons hell bent on utter destruction. They play with darkness and their princes can kill you just with fear. The only way to stop them is with fire." I said, feeling what I needed to do. I had to protect the world. The instinct was debilitating, made me want to run toward the problem. My survival instincts sucked.

"How many are there?" Xevikan asked, and I could see the wheels turning in his head. Battle calculations, estimates of the man power we would need.

I was trying to think. There would be no way that I could handle this on my own. There were way too many. Then it hit me. The Hellchasers were demon hunters, right? I could go see their boss. He was a terrifying man from what I had read in the books, but I was pretty powerful myself. "Thousands." I stood and turned to look at them. "Bring them home and look after our families. I need to see if I can get some help."

I closed my eyes and thought of Thorn's realm. I had always pictured it as sort of a dark castle, similar to how beauty and the beast was pictured except with more screams and stench. I opened my eyes and found myself face to face with a man who was so terrifying he could freeze you with just one look. Luckily my protector instincts were going a mile a minute, and I didn't even flinch. There was a much larger threat coming, and Thorn was a problem for another time. For now, I needed him to be my ally.

"Who the fuck are you?" he snarled, weapon out. He had beautiful, mismatched eyes and hair the colour of cream.

"Acheron Parthenopaeus' sister, Arro." I said, not even bothering to smile. "There are demons entering our world through a rift in our universes and they're looking for humans to kill."

I waited for a reaction but he gave nothing away. He just continued to look at me as if I was a worm he'd found in his favourite apple. So much the better. I had never liked people who thought they were better than everybody else.

"That is your area of expertise, is it not?" I prompted.

"Not my problem." He finally replied. "We deal with our universe's demons. I can't be expected to police every universe."

I looked him in the eye, making sure he felt the weight of my gaze. "Remember this when everyone you've ever met is lying on the ground dead." I turned to leave - even though I could teleport, turning always gives a little bit of dramatic feeling. "The only way to kill them is through decapitation or fire." I flashed out and reappeared in the middle of the Sahara desert. The rift was over a mile away, and I could see the darkness seeping out and the dark bodies that crawled through. Beyond the rift I could see a world of such desolation, brown and dry. What horrors had they committed there to make the environment so harsh and unforgiving.

I flashed my armour on. Kech had been showing me a few days ago how to get it on. He didn't have the ability but many gods did. He didn't say when they had taught him, only that they had. The armour was thin, but durable going from wrist to ankle, and up to my chin. My hair was tied back into a braid. I had a pair of twin swords on my back. Kech had been teaching me a variety of weapons but these were the only ones I had managed to even partially master at this point.

My hands shook and I clenched them beside me, hoping that I could do this. I didn't know how I could do this. I wasn't a warrior by any means. But my instincts pushed me forward. This was what I was meant to do, what I was made for. Protecting the world.

I started walking slowly forward, watching. They were faster than I had imagined, and didn't move like bipedal animals should. I stared across this gap and as one they lifted their heads and stared back. I looked into death and death stared back. And then they charged.

 **And there's chapter 7! Please review :)**


	10. Chapter 8

I unsheathed my swords and held them loosely at my sides. It was better to be relaxed, ready. Even if you were fighting alone. I saw a flash of movement in my peripherals and whirled to see Thorn standing in full battle armour.

"You came." I said softly.

"It's my job." he replied, and looked at the foe that was rapidly approaching.

They hit with a ferocity that would have knocked me over if I hadn't used my powers to steady myself. I sheathed myself in flame, pulling from that place within myself of creation. Fire had just as much life as it did death. I saw Thorn do the same beside me and we hacked at them. I could feel them trying to find my fears, trying to hurt me. Images flashed on the battlefield of my family screaming, of my siblings dying.

I felt the tears stream down my face as I killed each of them. As I shoved images of happiness and creation at each of them to drive their hatred away. I could feel my strength fading. Two men appeared next to me and I nearly collapsed with relief when I saw that it was Xevikan and Caleb. If I knew one thing I knew that they were skilled warriors.

"Don't let them get to you." I gasped and drove deeper into the fray. When you killed one, five seemed to appear in its place. One came up at me and landed a hit to my head. I blinked at the spots in my vision and swung, one of my swords getting lodged in its spinal chord. I jerked it free and lopped the rest of its head off, feeling my strength waning. I pulled on my magic, the reserves that were there. It would strengthen me.

I let out a war cry so primal I almost didn't recognize it as myself. Dodge, kick, swing. Duck. I felt Thorn at my back but they were closing in fast, so fast. We couldn't keep this up much longer. There weren't enough of us. We pressed out at them but soon they would overwhelm us by sheer force. I had to act now.

An image appeared in my mind and I felt fear rise up in me. But I knew now what I had to do.

"Run." I said.

"What? No! We can't just let them kill everyone." Xevikan replied, seemingly shocked with my comment.

"I'll hold them off." I said, grunting with effort as I decapitated yet another. We were standing on a pile of bodies almost ten high, and it was only growing.

"If we go they'll kill you." Thorn said as if I was an idiot. Maybe I was. But this was my job. I could feel it. Maybe this was even why the Source had created me to begin with. Stop the total annihilation of the world.

"If you stay they'll kill us all, and then there will be nobody left to protect the rest." I replied, kicking one of them back and sending its arm flying. "Now go. You have sixty seconds to get at least four miles away."

"Then what?" Caleb slashed two more. We weren't even making a dent.

"Then watch the fireworks." I replied. They all looked at each other then back at me again, seeming to hate the idea. "I'm a goddess of protection. This is my job." I was almost pleading with them. Nobody had to die today.

They vanished and the Valg started in for me, the darkness writhed at the edge of my fire. One. This was it. This was what was left of me. Twenty. The shaking had started. Forty. Keep going just a little longer. Sixty. I prayed that they were out of range and closed my eyes. I reached into the full depths of my power and grabbed onto everything that was left. I channeled it, into heat and retribution. I created a barrier, a sort of patch. I could feel it forming around the rift, closing up the hole. It wasn't a permanent solution but it would keep the rift closed long enough for them to bring backup.

When the rift was closed I opened my eyes and smiled at them. "Do you fear death?" I unleashed the fire and for a moment the world was white with heat. It was beautiful. It spread out for miles in either direction, obliterating all life; animals, foliage. I hoped that there was nobody in this area of the Sahara. I felt myself fall at the ground as the bodies under me were turned to nothing more than ash. Hundred of thousand of Valg, dead in one instant. Too bad there were so many more back in that world that would need to be defeated.

The light died and only the sun was there to shine down on me. Spots appeared in my vision and I felt something drip from my nose, my ears. I reached up and my hand came away wet with blood. I laughed and it sounded eerie in the silence. So this was it. I guess immortality was overrated anyways.

The world faded and I have the distinct memory of floating above my body. Ash appeared next to it, Styxx next to him. There was anguish on their faces but I couldn't be sure why. They barely knew me. They checked my breathing and I watched. My chest was barely rising and falling.

Caleb and Xevikan appeared next, Thorn appearing right after them. They all knelt next to me and conferred. I heard them but it sounded as if I was underwater and they were speaking at the surface, so far away.

"If we're going to help her we have to do it now." Acheron's voice sounded above the others.

Styxx looked at him. "She's too far gone. It will take more than one of us to bring her back now."

"I can't. My life is already tied to another's." Ash said.

"I'll do it." Caleb said. I tried to jump at him, smack him but my body wouldn't respond. If I was right they were going to tie two lives to mine to keep me alive. I couldn't let that happen. Caleb had been trapped for so long as the servant of various Malachai's. I couldn't take that freedom away from him.

I would be at their mercy. I knew that. But these men weren't vindictive. Relying on them wasn't something I relished in but I was more worried about them. They would feel obligated to help me for the rest of their lives. Be tied to me even when they wanted to feel free.

"So will I." Xevikan said.

"No, I will be the second." Styxx said.

"You're Cthonian, it won't have the same effect." Ash explained to him. He looked between Caleb and Xevikan. "You realize that in doing this you'll hold her life in your hands forever. If she doesn't get your blood once a week she will die and it will cause a cataclysmic shift in the balance."

They both nodded gravely. I could see it on their faces. Neither of them really loved this but they didn't realize that I might not want this. Maybe I would rather die than be anyone's slave. Maybe I would rather die than make anyone feel like a prisoner again.

"The world needs her." Caleb said. "More than we need to be free."

Tears were streaming down my non-corporeal face. I watched and they started to escape on my real body too. It was strange, seeing yourself not in the mirror.

"Look," Thorn said. It was probably the first helpful thing he'd said. Maybe they would realize that this was a bad idea and let me go.

"We have to hurry." Ash said. "Cut your hands and pray that this works."

Ash then worked his magic of rebirth and I blinked out and back into existence. I opened my eyes and there were all their faces above mine. "What have you done." I said hoarsely. My eyes accused each of them for the part that they had played.

"We saved you." Styxx said.

"You've imprisoned me." I said. "You have imprisoned them - because they are good men and they won't leave me to die, and they won't leave the world to die." The tears kept coming and I bit back a sob. "You sentenced two good men to a lifetime of this." I waved my hand at my face that was still covered in blood.

Styxx flinched as if I'd slapped him. I may as well have. The look on Ash's face showed that he knew exactly what he'd done. But he had accepted it. And was ready for me to hate him. He'd had to choose between me and the world and he'd chosen the world. If I was being honest I would have made the same choice.

I wiped at the tears and stood up.

"It's okay if you hate us." Ash said. "But don't take it out on them."

I tried to push the anger back, clenching and unclenching my fists. My legs shuddered. I guess their blood hadn't totally fixed everything. "I could never hate you. You're my brother." I closed my eyes again and swallowed against the lump in my throat. "I just... need time to be okay with this."

He nodded, and kept his distance. Styxx stood next to him and shifted to pick up my dropped swords, handing them to me hilt first. I took them and slid them back in their sheaths. They were covered in black blood but I didn't have the energy to clean them. I need to sleep and I needed to think. What I really needed was to not be around these people.

"Let's take you home." Caleb said, taking my elbow gently.

I stepped away, not aggressively but firmly. "I have a roommate who doesn't know anything about this. I can't really bring home two bloody men." I shifted my shoulders. I was already starting to feel some of the effects of the healing. I could teleport home myself. If I was right, Lanna would still be at work so I could shower quickly and then sleep. "I go home alone. Ash has my number. You can contact me tomorrow."

With that I flashed out and landed awkwardly in my shower. I flashed off my armour and turned the shower on, hissing at how cold it was. I let it heat up until it burned and scrubbed at the black goo on my body. My tears mingled with the water and I scrubbed until the water once again ran clear and then long after that. I turned off the shower and my skin was raw from scrubbing.

I didn't have the energy to put clothes on. Instead I stumbled into my room and on my bed, remembering to shut the door before I passed out.

x.x.x.x.x

My lease was up in three months, but I had a feeling that I was going to have to leave sooner. It would be too dangerous for Lanna if I stayed. I would have to tell her about myself. About why. I had a feeling that this wasn't the last that we were going to see of the Valg. I had named their world Maas world V. So far my patch on the rift was holding, but we had soldiers stationed there constantly just incase things went south. Thorn's Hellchasers could handle it at least until reinforcements arrived.

A knock sounded at the front door and I sighed. Time for an amazingly awkward encounter. I opened the door to find an unhappy Caleb and Xevikan. We all walked upstairs and then sat across from each other.

"So, now what?" I asked awkwardly. Caleb and Xevikan each took out a knife and a cup. They cut themselves and the blood poured in. I hurried to the sink to grab some paper towel beside it and when I came back they were already healed. Awesome. Now my inexperience was showing.

I took the cups and took a sip from the first one. I gagged. It tasted exactly like regular blood - like when you bit your lip and a little blood spilled into your mouth. It was like copper and totally unappetizing.

"What the fuck," I gagged again, and yet my body yearned for it. I was salivating even as my stomach muscles contracted and bile came up my throat. They both grimaced across from me, neither really liking what was happening any more than I was. "Isn't it supposed to taste better?" I asked, trying to choke back another gag. I couldn't even look at the stuff without gagging.

"It tastes like blood." Caleb said, the sarcasm dripping from his voice.

I glared at him but he didn't balk. Annoying demon-man.

I managed to choke back the rest of it, with lots of gagging and swearing throughout. When it was finally over I felt sufficiently humiliated and we all just sat there in silence.

"We should really talk about the living situation right now." Xevikan said.

I raised my eyebrows. This was going to probably be offensive.

"You should think about living with us." Caleb said.

I nodded slowly and pressed my lips together in the facsimile of a smile. "Why?" So far they hadn't said anything ridiculous but I was already on the defensive. These two were just so... attractive? Dangerous? They made me uneasy.

"We can protect you. It'll be easier for you to get your... weekly gifts. And you would be closer to your brothers." Xevikan finished. It really all did sound pretty practical. Except for the whole insinuation that I couldn't protect myself.

"Are you saying I can't protect myself? Because I'm pretty sure we're all in this mess because _I_ protected _you_." I gestured to them. "I protected the whole _world_ so I am more than capable of protecting myself." I snapped.

"We're not saying you can't-" Caleb said.

"I know exactly what you're saying. You're concerned about the world. You think that if something happens and you're not there to help me pick up my pieces with your blood then the whole world will collapse." I said and even as I spoke the anger in me dimmed to a sort of emptiness. I had to accept that things were going to be different. They were right. And I had already been thinking that I may have to leave my apartment.

I sighed. "I do know that I'll need to distance myself from this place soon, though. If things keep going the way that they have been."

"You mean if another universe collides with ours?" Caleb said, seeming a little skeptical. "What are the odds that would happen twice?"

"What are the odds it would happen once?" I countered.

"She has a point." Xevikan said. I smiled at him. He seemed to be the smarter of the two - or at least, the one that would agree with me most.

"Excellent." I stood. "And while we're agreeing with me I assume that you'll agree when I say it's time for you to leave. I have plans with my friends and I need time to think about all of this."

Caleb opened his mouth to protest but I silenced him with a glare. He had the good sense to close his mouth and walk down my stairs. Xevikan followed after him and sent me an appologetic look.

"See you in a week, Arrosa." Xevikan said. And when he said it, I almost didn't hate it.


	11. Chapter 9

I lay in my bed, unable to sleep. The darkness the Valg had spread around me, the soullessness of their eyes wouldn't leave my head. Three weeks had passed since I had nearly died. Three instances of disgusting blood drinking.

I counted my breaths in and out, trying to keep my heart slow, calm. I was a goddess. Literally so powerful that my brother had to constantly remind me to keep my shield up so that the rest of the world didn't follow my power like a moth to a flame.

So why did I feel so powerless?

My phone lit up and I reached for it, wondering who could possibly be texting me at 4am. It was Caleb.

 _Text me when you wake_ up.

I frowned. He didn't usually message me unless it was to coordinate our weekly meeting. I guess I kind of needed to talk to him too. I had thought about it and decided that it made sense to move in with them. It would be safer for Lanna and I had to admit, it would be easier for me, too.

 _I'm awake. What's up?_ I texted my reply and just stared at the screen, waiting for his response. I didn't really have anything better to do at this time anyways.

 _What are you doing awake right now?_ He replied.

I rolled my eyes. _Pot, meet kettle._ I waited a second and texted again. _What did you want to tell me, Caleb?_

He appeared at the foot of my bed, phone in his hand. I swallowed a scream and did my best to pretend that he hadn't terrified me. His hair was a mess and he was wearing a rumpled grey shirt and some dark sweatpants.

"Caleb!" I snapped with enough reproach in my voice that he shot me an apologetic look. I sighed and looked at the ceiling, trying to find my patience. "So what's up?"

"I really think that you should move in with us," he said gently. "There are people who are starting to look for Ash's new siblings, people that want to use you to hurt him."

I sat up and pulled my knees to my chest, wrapping my arms around them. "I know,"

His eyebrows raised and for once he didn't have anything to say.

"I've been thinking about it. I know I can't stay here I just... wasn't ready to let it go just yet." I put my chin on my knees and sucked in a breath.

I looked up at him again and could see recognition in his eyes. A kindred spirit, someone who had been through so much and come out the other side still kicking. It was comforting.

We sat there in silence for a few minutes, Caleb looking a little too closely at how messy my room was. "Why are you avoiding Kech?" He asked.

I did my best to examine my fingernails. I couldn't see him. Everytime I saw him I was just reminded that I was putting him in danger with my presence. It was better to let go before I got even more attached. "It's only been three weeks. I've been preparing... to leave."

"You're not dying."

"I know... I just," I sighed, trying to find the right words to explain. "I don't want to keep putting my friends in danger. Don't you think it's better that I distance myself from the people that could be hurt by Ash's enemies - _my_ enemies?"

"Kech can protect himself," Caleb said.

I tried to blink tears out of my eyes and looked to the side. "I'm tired of losing, Caleb."

"We all are. But quitting is losing, too." He said. He patted me on the head gently and then flashed out.

x.x.x.x.x

I finished packing my bags two days later. It felt so final, as if I was not only packing up my belongings but saying goodbye to everything I had ever known. Ash grabbed as many of the cardboard boxes as he could and carried them down my narrow stairs and out to the van - pedo van as I called it, making Ash roll his eyes every time.

Lanna was doing her best not to cry at the top of the stairs. I stood just a little back from her, observing the whole thing. Caleb, Xev, Kech and Styxx were here to help as well. After loading up the van we were heading to my parents house. I told myself that it wasn't a goodbye - it was just like moving out the last time had been. I could teleport - it would take even less time to see them than it did now.

I had called Kech the morning after my talk with Caleb, and since then Kech had taken to pretending that I hadn't been avoiding him. Things had become strangely normal between us - if normal had ever really existed.

"You know they only move when you lift them up," Kech joked in my ear. I elbowed him in the ribs and he fake winced even though I knew I hadn't hit him hard enough to really hurt.

I tried to fake a smile for him but I knew he could see through it. This bothered me much more than it should.

"This isn't the end, you know." He said. "You'll see us all whenever you want."

I could feel this itching at the back of my neck, this feeling like I was missing something. The Valg had been defeated weeks ago, and yet I couldn't help but feel like with each passing day something dark was approaching, and this time I wouldn't be able to stop it myself.

"Arro," he grabbed my arm gently.

I looked up into his face and couldn't hide the fear I felt. The uncertainty. "It isn't just moving, Kech." I whispered. "There's something coming. Something we're missing." I looked to the door. Styxx beckoned, meaning it was time to go. "We have to be ready when it does."

I walked with Kech and Lennie down the stairs to the car. I hugged Lennie tightly, tears slipping from my eyes. I hope that this really does keep her safe.

I got a spot in the middle row, between Caleb and Xevikan. Kech was staying in the city - he had to protect the people here, just as I did. We just had different ways we needed to do it - him by killing the daimons (Apollites who decide to suck in souls to extend their lives past 27 years) and me by leaving this place behind.

The streetlights were bright in the night dark sky. It was just past sunset - almost 8. I hoped that my mother didn't have a night shift to work tonight, or we would be cutting her pre-work shift short. In all the commotion I hadn't even thought to ask.

We pulled up to the house and I had to swallow back the tears again. _This isn't goodbye._ I repeated in my head. I stepped out of the car and was hit head on by a running Valeriya. She was all dangling limbs and puffy hair and I held her so tightly I heard the air whoosh from her lungs.

"Arrosa... you're... crushing me!" She groaned and I gently released her, kissing her on the top of her head.

Noel came next, hugging me awkwardly and making gagging noises when I kissed his head. My mother walked over and hugged me tightly, kissing my head. "I'm expecting you to visit at least once a week."

"Of course, mamma."

My dad hugged me next, then Aaliya and Darius. I looked past them and noticed the bags behind them. I scanned the faces around me - Ash who was currently accepting an awkward hug from my mother, Styxx trying to deflect the worship from Noel, and Xev and Caleb alone against the car. In all the faces I could see a lot of feelings, but none of them was shock.

"Who are those bags for?" I asked.

"Us," Aaliya said, gesturing to herself and Darius. "We're coming with you."

I looked at Caleb and he nodded. They had somehow already talked to him about this. Even my mum and dad seemed okay with this. "No. There's no way. It's too dangerous. I'm leaving this city to keep you safe."

Darius and Aaliya started arguing at the same time, their words blending together but my mother held up a hand. "Things in this world are changing, Arrosa. We all need to be ready and your friends have agreed to train your siblings. When Noel and Valeriya turn sixteen they'll join you."

"Mamma they're just kids," I pleaded with her to understand.

"I felt a stir," she said, as if that would make sense to me. "Just for a second, but I felt the part of myself I lost to this world come back. I don't think that was just a coincidence. When things change we all need to be ready. Your siblings deserve to be ready."

I looked at both of them - the determination in Darius and the joy in Aaliya. They did need this.

"You understand what this means." I said. "That you're putting yourselves in danger by being with me, with us."

They both nodded and hugged me again. Ash grabbed their bags and added them to the mess of things in the back of the car. I didn't bother asking why they only brought a duffle bag each. They had clearly thought this through.

A few minutes later we were on the road, with Darius and Aaliya shoved into the back. I stared out the windshield at the road, letting my thoughts wander. If another world really was breaking through our little group being ready wouldn't be enough. We were going to have to find more allies, an army of them if our last encounter with another world was any indication.

"We could always teleport, you know." Styxx reminded me from the front seat. Darius and Aaliya echoed this, not wanting to drive the 22 hours to New Orleans.

"No." I said. "If I'm going to move I want to do it properly. Without our powers." That silenced any arguments from the rest of them. The radio played quietly for the rest of the ride, constant rock and metal hits.

x.x.x.x.x.x.

I sat in the window seat of my bedroom in this oversized house, clutching a book filled with demonology from this world. There were so many demons, so many different ways that they can die and even more ways that they can hurt and enslave others. It was terrifying, going through all the different things I needed to protect people from.

Since moving here last week, I had spent all my time going through every bit of lore I could find. While other worlds posed us a problem I had no doubt that the monsters from our world would cause as much if not more of a problem if worlds continued to collide with our own.

I was just getting to the good part, where the main character accepts her love for the man she's been with the whole novel.

"Arro!" Caleb called from downstairs.

I closed the book and glared through the floor. "What?"

"Come here!"

I rolled my eyes and put my book down on the violet cushions, wondering what he was upset now. Over the last week he had realized the mistake he'd made in inviting not only me, but two of my siblings to live with him. Things were not quiet and clean as he was used to.

I took my time walking down the stairs. Caleb was surfaced at the bottom, holding up my sweater. "Do you know what this is?"

"Do you not?" I responded, sarcasm lacing my voice.

He threw it at me and I caught it, fighting the urge to whip it back at him. "Can we stop worrying about-" I stopped midsentence to a pain I had only felt once before. I pressed the heel of my hand to my eye and dropped the sweater. I distantly heard Caleb grumbling about the timing of my visions and felt his arms grab me as my knees buckled.

This time all I got was an image of a waterfall and the shimmering that signified another breach. The waterfall faded and the world focused around me. I was thankful that this vision was less ominous than the last one.

"What did you see?" Caleb asked. The annoyance was gone, for which I was thankful. I really wasn't in the mood to deal with that right now.

"There's another breach," I replied, pushing myself off the ground. "And I'm going to go check it out."

"I'm coming," Caleb replied and flashed on his armour. I tried my best not to roll my eyes at his theatrics. "And we're getting the others."

Ten minutes later Caleb, Xev, Ash and Styxx were waiting at the door. Darius and Aaliyah kept begging us to let them come along, but I ignored them. They weren't ready for this. They had only been training for a week, and who knew what lay behind that breach?

I shut them up with a look, hugging them quickly. I closed my eyes and shifted into my armour. It went up to my chin, shining gold to match the copperlike colour of the hair I was still getting used to. I let my hair hang loose and looked between my companions.

"Ready?" I asked.

They nodded grimly and we joined hands, flashing to the waterfall. The breach shimmered, and if I squinted I could almost pretend it was just a trick of the light. I took a deep breath and walked toward it, letting the others follow behind.

I felt a squeezing around my lungs and then stepped out into a beautiful throne room. I heard the others stepping through, but my gaze was more focused on the people around the room. Each of them aimed their weapons at us. A huge white wolf bared his teeth at us, but that wasn't what caught my eye. No, it was the queen standing with her sword out, flaming that really got me.

Her eyes were blue with gold and she was the fiercest woman I had ever seen. Her ears were pointed at the top. Fae.

"Who are you?" she snapped at us.

"Arrosa. We came to investigate a breach between our worlds. Who are you?" I replied evenly, trying not to let my eyes wander to the soldiers in the room. We had clearly interrupted some sort of meeting.

"Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen."

 **Well that's Chapter 9! Please review :)**


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